The Accidental Hero
by cheekymice
Summary: Bad things happen late one night at the Cohen residence. Their gated community isn't as safe as they thought. Complete
1. Chapter 1

**Not beta-ed so all mistakes are mine.**

**Disclaimer- Nope I own nothing to do with The OC (I lied, I own a the DVD box set!)**

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 1.

Sandy opened his eyes, and processed the sounds that had disturbed him. It was the soft shuffling of someone moving around the house. In his sleepy state his brain settled down to the thought that one of the boys had awoken and was probably making a night raid on the kitchen. Both the boys had veracious appetites and they both snuck into the food cupboards at odd times of the night. It hardly ever woke him anymore. He let his mind drift back to sleep with the thought that whichever one it was, they had better leave the bagels alone. Something pulled him back into consciousness. He didn't quite know what it was; he sat up in bed and listened. Something seemed off, he couldn't put his finger on it. He swung his feet out of the bed and cautiously got up.

Kirsten rolled over and whispered.

"Sandy, what's wrong?"

Sandy put his fingers to his lips and crept to the door.

"It's probably nothing Kirsten, just one of the boys but I'm just going to check it out."

Kirsten sat up. She heard it too.

Sandy opened the door and his heart almost stopped. Seth stood wild eyed, his hair stuck up at all angles but it was the shape behind him that Sandy focused on. Unless Ryan had taken to wearing a ski mask at night then something was very wrong indeed.

"Ahh, this makes things so much easier. If you both care to join us then we can get this party started."

"What the hell do you want? Get out of my house now or I'm calling the police!" Sandy barked.

"Now, now, I suggest that you're a bit more polite to me Sir. I can't stand rudeness and from where I'm standing you ain't holding any of the cards."

"Dad, they've got guns." Seth sounded so small.

" That's right son, we've got guns and my partner can get a little trigger happy when he's kept waiting."

Sandy saw the burnished silver at his son's side. He looked around at Kirsten a panicked expression was plastered on her face. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was a gated community…it was safe.

"Come on lady, get your sweet ass outta that bed."

Kirsten slowly rose from the covers and grabbed her robe.

"No need for that darlin' …give us something pretty to look at." Ski mask gave a snort.

Kirsten shut her eyes briefly wishing that she hadn't worn a silk negligee to bed. She slowly walked over to Sandy.

"Mmm mmm ain't you a sight for sore eyes honey." The man let his eyes linger on Kirsten's breasts.

Sandy never wanted to hurt anyone so much in his life as he did the man who was now leering at his wife. He placed a reassuring hand on Kirsten's arm.

"Let's move it people." Ski mask shoved Seth forwards.

He used the gun as a pointer to usher them down the corridor and into the den. A second man was pulling open drawers and piling objects in the centre of the room. Sandy tried to take in everything he could about these men. Ski mask was tall and thin; his voice gave him away as a young man as did his clothes. He wore his baggy jeans low on his hips and had on a pair of trendy Nike trainers. Long greasy brown hair peeked out the bottom of the black ski mask. Sandy knew these things would be important to the police. He had to stay calm and focused. The second man was stockier, his pants were more utilitarian and he wore scuffed boots. He moved about the room, Sandy noted the pistol tucked in the seat of his pants; he was taking no care in what he damaged. It was strange Sandy thought but just by his movements he could tell who was in charge here and it wasn't ski mask. He'd been in many jails and detention centres in his time as a D.A and learnt how to read people. This man gave off a dangerous, highly-strung vibe that made Sandy nervous.

"You took your time…is that everybody?" Boots barked at Ski mask as he continued to sift through the contents of their home.

Sandy shot Seth a warning look and shook his head a fraction. Chances were that they wouldn't even venture outside. Sandy prayed that Ryan would sleep his way though this nightmare. He certainly wanted him nowhere near this situation. Ryan didn't think like normal people, he didn't seem to have the inbreed self-preservation switch in his brain that most people had and Sandy dreaded to think what a potent mix 'Boots', a gun and Ryan would be.

"Yup, this is it." Ski mask replied.

"Bag them." Boots threw some cable ties at him.

"Sit on the floor with your hands behind your backs and no fuckin' around, remember who's got the gun."

Ski mask pulled roughly at Seth's arms and wrenched the plastic tight; he did the same to Sandy.

Sandy winced as the thin plastic bit into his wrists. He looked at Seth and tried to convey in a look that this would be over soon. Once they got what they wanted they'd be gone. Seth was deathly pale but gave him a weak smile as a reassurance that he was O.K.

Sandy turned to Kirsten as Ski mask tied her wrists. He held his breath as he saw Ski mask run his hand slowly down Kirsten's arm. Sandy had a bad feeling starting in the pit of his gut. Kirsten just stared at him like she was begging him to protect her. He had never felt more useless in his life. Ski mask leered at Kirsten again, Sandy snapped. Calm and focused went out the window.

"Leave her alone." Sandy yelled at Ski mask.

Boots dropped the file he was holding, came over and crouched beside Sandy. He brought his face up close enough for Sandy to smell the faint smell of liquor on his breath and see glimpses of pox marked skin around his mouth.

"I'm thinking your wife has some nice jewellery and stuff in the bedroom. Am I right Buddy? What do you say to my partner here taking Blondie to go and find it? A rich bastard like you must buy lots of gewgaws for his pretty wife huh."

Kirsten whimpered.

"No…leave her alone or I swear I'll…"

"You'll do what exactly?"

Sandy tried to get up as Ski mask grabbed Kirsten arm and roughly pulled her to her feet. Boots hit him hard with the butt of the gun on the side of the head and he sat back down with a thud. He shut his eyes and tried to stay upright.

"Dad!" Seth watched in horror.

"Sandy!" Kirsten cried as she was pulled from the room.

Boots pulled Sandy's head up by the roots of his hair and grinned at him through his mask.

"No fooling with her until she gives up the goodies mind… then show her what it's like with a real man and not a pampered ass hole." He sneered.

"No!"

"Mom."

Sandy went to rise again but Boots waved the gun under his nose.

"Don't worry he'll be real quick, he's not a stud with the ladies no matter what he thinks…now have you got any real cash around here slick?"

Sandy squeezed his eyes shut to block out the mocking look he saw in the man's eyes. He could hear Seth next to him crying. This wasn't happening to his family. It couldn't be.

He heard a scream from the bedroom.Sandy felt the bile rise in his throat.

* * *

Kirsten screamed and tried to kick him as she scrabbled backwards on the bed but with her hands hog-tied she had no balance. The man roughly grabbed her ankles and yanked her back down the bed. She kicked out again as he brought his face up close and licked a line down her cheek.

"It hurts less if you don't struggle lady."

Kirsten continued to kick as he pawed at the hem of her negligee; he ran his hand under the fabric bunching it as he went. His weight pinned her down and she could feel him hard against her thigh. She couldn't breathe as he covered her body with his and tried to force her mouth open with his tongue. She gritted her teeth and moved her head from side to side, she bucked her hips in the hope of dislodging him. She could feel his hand snake between them as he fumbled with his fly.

She had never been so scared in her life, she saw no way out of this. He was so much stronger than she was. Tears escaped from her eyes. She lay passively now without her hands she could do nothing. She knew that there was nothing she could do to stop this. She shut her eyes tight as she felt him shift as he straddled her and went about easing his pants down.

She heard a noise in the room and something made her open her eyes… her eyes grew wide as she saw the bat swing, then connect with a sickening thud with the back of his head. He fell sideways.

She let out a sob. Gentle hands pulled her upright and rearranged her clothes.

"There's another one, he's with Sandy and Seth…he's got a gun."

Ryan nodded.

"You got to get out of here Kirsten."

Ryan moved over to her dressing table and picked up her manicure set. He got the nail scissors out.

" I'm not leaving!"

"Kirsten you've got to get help."

He moved behind her and hacked at the plastic until it snapped.

"You go Ryan, they don't know you're here." She whispered.

"Kirsten… Sandy wouldn't forgive me if I didn't get you out of here. You've got to go."

He stood her up and led her to the French windows.

"Ryan…"

They both heard the heavy footfalls coming down the hall.

"Pete, I told you to be quick…" The voice was near.

Ryan shoved Kirsten out of the door.

"Go!" He gasped.

Kirsten hesitated as the door handle turned.

Ryan flew across the room and turned the key in the lock.

Kirsten ran.

**Tbc.**

Now review darn it...I see the stats, I know how many of you are reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Beta-ed by the wonderful Melanie39

Thanks for all your reviews, I feed off them like a vampire so please continue!

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 2

Ryan stood in the center of the room trying to work out his next move. He should have thought things through but there really hadn't been the time to formulate a plan, he'd just been sucked into the middle of this thing. When he'd woken in the middle of the night he just thought he'd been disturbed by the breeze. The pool house wasn't one hundred percent sealed against the elements and the wind tended to whistle through the windows if it was blowing in the wrong direction. It was only when the lights had gone on inside the main house that his interest had been piqued. He'd padded to the kitchen door to see what was going on, expecting to find one of the Cohens raiding the cupboards for indigestion medicine or a midnight snack. As he'd opened the door he'd heard the strangers' voices.

_"Bag them." _

"Sit on the floor with your hands behind your backs and no fuckin' around. Remember who's got the gun."

It didn't take a genius to work out what was going on. He'd retreated in a state of panic and decided on going back to the pool house to call the police. He thanked the Gods that he hadn't turned his lights on when he'd gotten up and so it appeared they didn't know there was anyone else in the house. He'd crept his way back across the yard and just made it to the door when the lights had come on in Sandy and Kirsten's room. He'd ducked down and opened the door silently.

He had the phone in his hand ready to dial 911 when he'd heard Kirsten scream. He'd dropped the phone. It was a scream that meant business and he hated to admit it but he'd heard that scream all too often in Chino. He looked around the room for a weapon and his eyes had alighted on the baseball bat propped in the corner. It was the only thing he could see that was even remotely useful as a weapon. He hadn't even given it a thought that a bat against a gun was not good odds, all that was running through his mind was that Kirsten had screamed and Mrs Cohen didn't seem to be the type of person to do that unless there was a fucking good reason.

He'd run over to the French doors that led into the Cohens' bedroom. He could see through the flimsy drapes the struggle taking place on the bed, it sickened him and he knew he had to act fast. He slid open the door. Part of him was hugely relieved that they'd not locked it and part of him was pissed. Their lax security was probably why they were being burgled now; in all his time here they'd never locked the back door even though he'd told them often enough to.

The asshole was hurting Kirsten in the worse way and he knew what he had to do. Luckily the punk on the bed was more interested in getting his rocks off than listening to what was going on around him and he didn't know what hit him, quite literally.

At least Kirsten was safe now but what the fuck was he going to do? He had an unconscious pervert one side of him and someone on the other side of the door, someone who was getting suspicious.

"Pete…what the fuck is going on in there?"

The guy rattled the door handle again.

"Get the hell off that dame and open the door or I swear I'll kick your ass to Kingdom come."

Ryan walked over to the bed, heaving the unconscious guy onto the floor and out of sight. This was his only shot. He could follow Kirsten and disappear but he figured he had one shot at this. If he was right and they didn't know he was in the house then this was his opportunity to take the other guy out. He lifted the bat again and walked over to the door, he rubbed his hands down his sweatpants and gripped the bat hard, and with his other hand he flicked the key in the lock. He stood behind the door.

The guy must have heard the slight click of the lock shifting and as the door swung open, Ryan stood like a coiled spring with the bat raised.

"Pete?"

Ryan could hear the confusion in the guy's voice as he walked in and scanned the apparently empty room. Ryan stepped from behind the door and swung the bat. This guy was aware of his surroundings and crouched as the bat flew. Shit.

The force of his swing threw Ryan off balance when it didn't connect with anything and the guy was on his feet before he had the chance to take another swipe. The guy threw himself at Ryan's mid-section, knocking the wind out of him and he flew back and crashed into the wall behind. Ryan dropped the bat and took a lungful of air before he launched himself blindly off the wall…. the unmistakable click of a trigger made him stop in his tracks. This was not how this had played out in his head but with the sort of luck he had, he should have seen this coming.

* * *

Sandy was numb. This could not be happening. He should have done more to help Kirsten and now he was left torturing himself, imagining what she was being subjected to. She had done so well to get over her father's death and after her brief stay in rehab she had returned to the strong and resilient woman he'd married, but this would break her and it was his entire fault. He hadn't set the alarm last night. With the house full of people it never seemed necessary and this community was safe...people weren't supposed to be able to wander in unnoticed. Security patrols and cameras were paid for by all the residents to stop this. Complacency was a bad thing in hindsight but he had never thought for one moment that anything bad would happen here in this bubble. Bronx Sandy had become too comfortable here.

Now Boots had disappeared, after tying their legs and making sure that they both knew what would happen to Kirsten if they moved one inch from where they lay. He prayed that Boots wasn't going to join Ski Mask in his task. He had never felt so sick in his life but he tried to hide his feelings from Seth who looked like he was going into shock over what was going on. He looked so pale and fragile lying there. Sandy thought that as the man of the house he would be the one to protect everyone...to keep them all safe, he'd let everyone down.

He waited for them to come back into the room for what seemed like an age. The house was silent. It was too silent. He shut his eyes and prayed to God that Kirsten was O.K. What if they...? No, she was going to be all right, she had to be.

"Seth…this will be over soon. Hang in there…"

His words sounded so false to his own ears.

"Mom's going to be O.K…isn't she Dad?" Seth whispered.

Sandy couldn't answer that. For once in his life he couldn't find the right words.

He just waited for this nightmare to be over. His head hurt from the pistol whipping he'd gotten and he just didn't know what to do. Why had this burglary gone so wrong? Why hadn't they just taken what they'd wanted and left them alone?

Sandy was just trying to calm his heart rate down when the room was suddenly full of private security guards.

A flurry of activity descended on the room. People seemed to rush aimlessly around speaking into radios.

"The police are on their way Sir."

"My wife…they're with my wife," he yelled.

They were being untied. Sandy was concerned that no one was listening to him. He had to make them listen…they had guns.

"My wife…"

"Sir, your wife is fine, she's out front safe and well."

"What?"

Sandy felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted from his shoulders.

Another voice spoke.

"Sorry, I couldn't keep her back."

Kirsten rushed into the room and embraced Sandy and Seth.

"Thank God you're both O.K."

"Kirsten…How?"

One of the security team came into the room and holstered his gun. He was speaking into his radio. He turned to the Cohens.

"It's clear… the perps have gone."

Sandy gave a sigh of relief and clung onto his wife and son.

Kirsten pulled away from him.

"Where's Ryan?"

Sandy blinked several times. Ryan? He was still in the pool house, wasn't he?

Why hadn't he woken up with all the activity that was going on? The bad feeling returned.

"Ma'am we've searched the house, there's no one else here."

Kirsten rushed to the bedroom as if she didn't believe them. It was less than ten minutes ago, probably seven when she'd left Ryan in their room.

"Kirsten?"

"Mom, what is it…where's Ryan?"

"Ryan was here…he…he saved me from …He told me to go Sandy, he was here!"

Sandy had trouble breathing again. He lowered his head to try and stop the swimming sensation. His eyes were drawn to the tiled floor, to the red splashes he saw there, to the wet smears that they were all standing on.

Kirsten looked down and raised her hand to her neck.

"Sandy," she gasped, "What have they done to him...Where is he?"

**Tbc**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to melanie39 for beta-ing.**

This is a short chapter, sorry in advance!

**Disclaimer- I own nothing.**

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 3

The police had arrived in record time. Caleb may be dead but his legacy still ran deep and Kirsten Cohen was a name to be reckoned with in Newport.

"Ma'am, we've put road blocks up around the immediate area but without having a clear description of the perpetrators or what vehicle they might be driving it's difficult."

"This is totally unacceptable, how the hell could they just vanish into thin air...with a teenage boy?"

"We're doing all we can Mrs. Cohen, rest assured. We've got patrols out….we'll find him."

Kirsten's worry made her shrewish and made her take her frustrations out on the police who were doing their best to find Ryan. In her mind she knew that they had little to go on and it wasn't their fault but Ryan had been missing now for forty-five minutes and forty-five minutes in the company of men like that was a lifetime.

The house was being covered in silver powder in the hope of finding fingerprints but unless either of them had taken their latex gloves off at some point it was hopeless.

Sandy had refused to go to hospital for his head wound. Instead, the EMTs had patched him up and made him sign a document stating that he had ignored their advice. He wanted to be near in case they got any news on Ryan. With each second that passed Sandy felt his control slip further away. He sat on the couch and watched as his wife took charge of the situation. How could she be so together after what had happened, after what was still happening to them? He admired her strong will but envied it at the same time. Why could he not get his head around this nightmare? Why did he feel so redundant? He wanted to be out there searching but he didn't want to leave Kirsten and Seth alone. He felt that he was letting Ryan down by not doing more.

Sandy watched his son. He was sat opposite him with the look of fear in his eyes but when Sandy caught his gaze he looked away, it was like he didn't want him to know how scared he was right now. His left foot tapping a frantic tattoo on the floor, he was also biting his thumbnail like he used to do when he was a lot younger and was worried about something. Sandy realized that so many of Seth's little nervous habits had stopped since Ryan had come to live with them. So much had changed; they were all different people now. And it was down to the complex person that was Ryan, this multifaceted individual who had taught them so much.

Why the hell had Ryan decided to play the hero? Why did he feel like he always had to save the world? Sandy was so grateful that Ryan had saved Kirsten from being raped by that animal but at what cost to himself. He was just a kid and now God knows what had happened to him. Sandy shut his eyes and tried to block out the image of the spray of blood on the bedroom floor.

He opened his eyes and looked at the clock… fifty minutes.

Kirsten sat down next to Sandy and grasped his hand in hers. She had seen him look at the clock. The same thing was running through her mind. It was almost an hour now.

She'd never forgive herself if anything happened to him. She'd left him and ran. Why had she listened to him? She was the adult, she should have been telling him what to do, not the other way round. That was the thing, fear had made her forget that he was just a boy, he had seemed so in control, and so commanding, like the situation was nothing out of the ordinary. That made her blood run cold when she thought about it…what it came down to was that he seemed generally unfazed by the violence of the situation and it brought home to her what his life must have been like before.

This was all her fault. What if she had gone to bed wearing her thick flannel pajamas? What if she had listened to her father who had told her to always sleep with a loaded gun nearby because you never knew when you might need it? What if she hadn't left him?

She had to stay in control because the alternative was not an option. Her body was crying out for a drink to numb the feelings of guilt that were assaulting her but she wouldn't give in. She made a pact with herself, she wouldn't touch a drop…unless…unless….

She shook the thought from her mind.

Seth got up and sat on the arm of the couch and held onto her other hand. She gave him a weak smile.

Seth took a deep breath. Why did this stuff keep happening to Ryan? Why when there were so many bad people out there did the bad stuff keep happening to Ryan who only ever tried to do the right thing? Seth laughed once when Ryan had mentioned the Atwood curse that seemed to dog him but nothing could deny that bad luck followed Ryan around like a black cloud. He listed the crap in his head, Dawn, Oliver, and Theresa – the one night of sex that may or may not have resulted in him making her pregnant. The summer in Chino, Theresa miscarrying, Theresa cutting him out, Trey stealing, Trey lying, Trey attacking Marissa, Trey being that close to choking him to death…Why did this stuff keep happening to Ryan?

And now? Seth didn't like to think what was going on now. He wouldn't think of what would happen if Ryan didn't come home again. What if he didn't bounce back from a run in with two psychos with guns? Seth felt so useless. They had divided, he hadn't had his back, not that there was anything he could have done but he wished that he could have been the one to save Ryan for once. No one ever saved Ryan. He bit the inside of his cheek hard and looked at his watch.

Sixty-four minutes.

Seth listened to the sound of the static from the police radios.

Ryan...he'd be fine. He had to be, because their family would never get over it if he wasn't.

**TBC**

**Read and review people...make me happy 'cause a happy cheeky writes faster.**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer- I own nothing.

Not beta-ed so all spelling and grammar mistakes are mine and the spell checker's.

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 4

Ryan stood still as the trigger clicked and looked into the eyes of the masked man, so much for that little plan.

"Where's Pete?"

Ryan flicked his head towards the bed.

The masked man walked backwards, keeping the gun trained on Ryan. He looked down at the floor.

"Shit…you do that slick?"

Ryan nodded wearily. Fuck it… there was no point in lying. The man returned to where Ryan stood and rewarded him with a blinding backhander across his face. Ryan felt his nose explode sending a stream of blood across the floor. Ryan stood his ground.

"Where's the woman?"

"Gone."

"Shit…shit."

Ryan could see the panic in the man's eyes. Part of him was relieved that the man knew this job was one hundred percent botched now…part of him was dreading what was going to happen next. A jittery, pissed off guy with a gun was not a good thing.

The man looked around the room and noted Kirsten's jewellery box on the side. He grabbed it and started to stuff the contents in his pockets.

" Is there a back way out of here?"

Ryan was tempted to tell him no and buy Kirsten some time to get help but the best thing was to get them out of here as fast as possible. The back way meant that they wouldn't have to enter the main part of the house again…that meant keeping them away from Sandy and Seth.

"There's a path that leads down to the beach."

Ryan wiped his nose on the back of his hand, it was still bleeding steadily…the bastard had broken it again. Ryan wondered if he qualified for the Guinness Book of Records yet with the amount of times he'd broken his nose.

The man paced up and down for a minute…working out things in his head. He swung round and spat at Ryan.

"We're getting out of here before the cops show… seeing as you incapacitated Pete, you are gonna have the pleasure of carrying him."

When Ryan didn't move he lifted the gun level with his head.

Ryan got the message. He sighed and walked slowly over to the bed. The guy was skinny but Ryan didn't relish the thought of lugging him down the beach path.

"Move it…!"

Ryan bent down and grabbed the unconscious man's arms, he heaved him upwards and pulled him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. He shifted him to make it more comfortable. He regretted hitting him so damn hard now, the pervert was a dead weight on his back and although he was fairly strong the beach path was steep and long.

"Get going and remember, I'm right behind you."

Ryan felt the gun nudge his back. Crap… this just kept getting better and better.

"Now get going…fast."

Ryan navigated his way outside, around the pool and down the path that led to the beach. He was sweating heavily now and his legs were killing him. They reached about halfway when he stopped briefly to hitch the weight up on his shoulders once more. That's when he heard the voices carry from above.

"You better pray that they don't come down here boy…now move."

Ryan felt a spurt of energy brought on by an adrenaline rush and he increased his pace. The gun nudging his back once more reminded him that this was not a romantic midnight stroll in the moonlight.

As they neared the bottom the path became a steep, sandy incline, Ryan had trouble keeping his balance and his bare feet slid the rest of the way down. He landed on his ass in a heap at the bottom 'Pete' hit the ground with a thump.

The man crouched down next to them and rolled 'Pete' onto his back, cupped his hand around his jaw and shook his head around trying to get a response from him.

"Shit…how hard did you hit him boy?"

Ryan muttered 'Not hard'…he kept to himself the fact that his wrist still ached from the force of the swing.

"You better pray that he's O.K."

Ryan stayed silent and listened to the man curse him.

"Get moving again…we ain't staying still."

Ryan got up and lifted Pete again; his shoulders groaned at having the weight back once more. Ryan took a deep breath and trudged up the beach. They'd walked about a half a mile when they heard the voices behind them.

Ryan felt the gun in his back again and the man pulled him into the scrub at the side of the cliff. The bushes gave them some camouflage in the darkness. Ryan shrugged Pete onto the sand. He was roughly pulled down and felt the cold barrel of the gun under his jaw.

"You say anything and I blow your head off …got it."

Ryan thought that that such a stupid thing to say, so clichéd. Like he was going to risk yelling out when a gun was resting at his neck, getting his brains rearranged was not an ambition of his. He was just relieved to get a breather at this point.

They both heard the sound of people moving down the shoreline. The voices carried to where they hid.

"So …what are the chances of this kid turning up alive?"

Ryan heard a laugh.

"I bet you fifty bucks that he'll be stinking up a dumpster somewhere in a few days."

"Martinez, you sick puppy…. I heard that the kid is an ex-con just living with the family, I wonder if he was in on it? That would explain how they got away so fast."

"Naaa…doesn't explain the blood at the scene Parker. The kid is dead and we're wasting our time freezing our butts off out here looking for him. The perps are long gone and the Sarge knows it…he's just keeping the family sweet cause they pay our wages. I'm telling you some bum will find his bloating corpse while rooting though a dumpster for a snack…lets just hope that it's away from here 'cause I don't want it to be on my beat…nothing worse than the stink of a week old body Parker, trust me."

The voices came near and the flashlight beam swung past their hiding place. Ryan held his breath.

"Hell, consider the beach searched…. they aren't out here…Lets just get back and grab a hot cup of coffee, I'm freezing my nads off here."

The sound of their laughter retreated back up the beach.

Ryan gave a wry smile to himself. It was good to know that the police were taking the search for him seriously. He should have known, He knew from his Chino days not to trust the bastards with finding the correct way to the urinals without written directions.

The sound of a low groan from the prone body next to him shook him out of his reverie.

"What the fuck?" Pete muttered as he slowly raised himself. He pulled his mask off and brought his hand to the back of his head.

The gun was pulled away from him as the other guy went over to his accomplice.

"Cody…what the hell happened?"

Shit…. shit, Ryan wished they wouldn't keep letting stuff slip, He didn't want to know their names he didn't want to see their faces. He wasn't stupid and neither were they. The chances of them just letting him go had just dropped considerably. He glanced back to see that Cody had also removed his mask. Great, things were not looking good.

This was just perfect. Why the hell hadn't these two just picked a different house to burgle? If they had have he'd still be sound asleep in his bed now, not sitting on the cold sand with his feet cut to ribbons and his sinuses killing him. He could feel the twin bruises forming already around his eyes from the blow to his face and God knows what shape his nose was in.

The two men continued to murmur to each other, and then both swung their eyes in his direction. Pete looked like he wanted to rip his head off, his face twisted in anger.

Ryan felt his stomach flip… He had a glorious image in his head care of Officers Parker and Martinez…fuck, the dumpster was looking like a distinct possibility now.

He lowered his head and gave a bitter laugh, he just hoped that they didn't choose the dumpster round the back of the 'Crab Shack', he knew from experience that it was only emptied once a week and the stink of the rotting crustacea would mean his body would never be found.

He ran his hand through his hair.

He looked up as both men stood above him.

This was not looking good at all.

**TBC**

**Thanks for all the reviews...see it worked. Cheeky was happy...Cheeky wrote fast.**


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for all the splendid reviews people, I am one very happy bunny.

Not beta-ed as my wonderful little beta is away on vacation at the mo. waves to beta.

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 5

Sandy paused outside Seth's room, he had had his hand raised to tap on the slightly open door when he heard his son speaking to someone inside. His voice was muffled and he sounded like he had a cold as he gave a loud sniff.

_"Summer, what if they don't find him…what if he's…. dead?" _

Sandy shut his eyes as Seth spoke aloud the words that he himself hadn't wanted to voice. Sandy felt the hollow fear echo around his stomach.

_"But where is he then Summer…if he's alive where is he, why isn't he here?"_

Sandy heard a long pause before Seth continued.

_"…. I want to believe that Summer, really I do but I know what the police think. I overheard some cops saying that in cases like this…"_

Another pause and another sniff sounded, then a subdued laugh.

_"Summer do you really think that...do you think that Ryan is this immortal who will battle his way out of everything like Highlander…. Yeah, I know…Kid Chino…but…."_

Sandy rested his head against the door jam. He wished he could believe that it was true. Summer was right, Ryan had spent his life fighting his way out of situations, his life had been one big battlefield and he had always managed to survive but Sandy had the dread that this was Ryan's Pearl Harbour. This was not something that he had prepared for …the enemy was unknown to him…they had advanced on them in a sneak attack and Ryan was now missing in action.

_"I'm not being negative Summer…I'm being realistic…. for once in my life I'm trying to face this thing head on and not bury my head in the sand."_

Sandy wished he could do the same.

_"You don't have to come over, the house is still full of police, it's not a great place to be…if you're sure…and Summer…. thanks."_

Sandy heard Seth replace the phone. Sandy knocked and pushed open the door. Seth sat bolt upright on the bed a mixture of apprehension and hope on his face.

"Sorry Seth, still no news."

Sandy watched as Seth sank back down on his bed.

"Summer's coming over. Is that O.K?"

"Yeah…I'll let the police know to let her straight up."

Sandy wanted to say more…he wanted to say something that would help his Seth through this but the words stuck in his throat, he just nodded at his son and retreated, shutting the door softly as he left.

It was now three hours and ten minutes.

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- --- ---- ---- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- --- --- -- -- - --- -- ---

Ryan walked along the beach, he knew what they were doing, they were trying to get as much distance between them and the house…for what purpose he could only guess at but he had a pretty good idea.

"So… you've been inside." Cody questioned.

"Yup."

"What for?"

"Car theft and arson."

"Ha… a big shot then." Pete spat out.

"Never said I was." Ryan answered softly.

Pete was worrying him, he knew that all that was on his mind was payback and Ryan wondered when it was going to happen.

"Where you from slick?" Cody asked.

"Chino."

"Chino…how the fuck did a punk like you end up living such a sweet deal?"

Ryan wondered about that everyday. He ignored Pete's question and continued to walk.

Pete grabbed his shoulder and swung him around.

"Hey, I asked you a question, what you doing there boy…you servicing that fine lady? Is that why you spoilt my fun? …. does she like a bit of rough, that it?"

Ryan was getting pissed off with the whole situation. He didn't like the fact that they were toying with him, making threats, then getting him to walk for miles up a deserted beach with a gun at his back. If they were going to kill him he wished that they'd just do it and get it over with.

Pete's comments about Kirsten had lit the blue touch paper and he went with the flow.

" I guess you'll never know…the woman has taste." Ryan pushed his face up close to Pete's, the gun rested on his abdomen.

"You little…"

"You haven't the balls to shoot me."

"Don't test me."

"What…you said that I was dead…here's a good a place as any…do it 'cause right now I couldn't give a shit one way or another."

Ryan stood back and raised his hands, not in submission but to goad Pete.

Pete lifted the gun. Cody grabbed at Pete's arm and jerked it down.

Ryan looked at Cody; he couldn't read him at the moment.

"You're from Chino right…so you know the rules?"

Ryan kept his face impassive.

"You keep your mouth shut and we let you go."

"What the fuck Cody?"

"Shut it...Pete. Kid, you get to walk if you swear that you forget what we look like and what you've heard tonight."

Ryan wondered where the hell this was coming from.

"Cody…you can't trust him…you let him go and that's the end of this. We've worked too hard putting this together for us to fuck up now!"

Cody stared Ryan down.

"He's going to stay quiet because we know where he lives…and he's going to stay quiet because he can't protect his lady all the time. If he says one word to the police than we'll know about it and we'll finish what we started tonight…starting with the lady, then one by one the rest of the family… we'll make sure of it."

"Aww shit Cody…you going soft. Just kill him."

"Shut it Pete…. I'm warning you, if you hadn't let your dick do your thinking then we wouldn't be in this situation now."

Cody marched up to Ryan.

"So we got a deal Chino?"

Ryan nodded his head. He wasn't sure what had just happened but he still had a feeling that things were not as black and white as they seemed.

"I haven't seen or heard anything." Ryan eventually answered.

Cody gave him a slow smile. He reminded Ryan of kid that had just caught a fly and was just about to rip its wings off. His instincts weren't wrong.

The first blow knocked him off his feet as Cody's fist connected with his jaw.

Cody took great delight in kicking him whilst he was down; he punctuated each boot with a statement.

_"That's for fucking things up tonight." _

"That's to remind you that if you talk to the police …you know who pays."

He obviously liked the sound of his voice as he found more reasons to kick.

There was no point in trying to fight back…this was part of the deal. Ryan curled himself into a ball, he now protected his stomach but left his kidneys wide open. He bit his lip and waited for Cody to finish taking all his frustrations of the night out on him.

Now this he knew…quick anger burned itself out and although the feeling of kicking someone was satisfying, it never lasted that long, AJ had been the master of this. Ryan had learnt long ago that if he tensed all his muscles than the damage was usually manageable.

Cody stopped and stood panting.

Pete joined in on the fun and got a couple of kicks to the head in but they lacked any real power but were hard enough to give him an immediate headache. Pete knelt down and grabbed Ryan's hair pulling his head up sharply.

"You're not so tough now are you?"

He released his grip and Ryan let his head fall into the sand.

"Come on Pete leave him…lets get out of here. Remember kid, you know nothing."

Ryan unfurled himself and rolled onto his back. He was just assessing the damage to himself when Pete launched himself on one last offensive and kicked him hard in the area in which no man should ever be kicked. Ryan curled into the foetal position in record time and let out a curse then held his breath.

Pete spat in his face and laughed.

"That's for knocking me out and interrupting me on the job."

Ryan heard their laughter continue up the beach.

He took a deep breath and tried to quell the rising feeling of nausea that flipped and flopped around in his stomach. He crawled onto his knees as he lost his fight, bile rushed out of his mouth, the acrid taste burning his nostrils.

He flopped back down when his arms started to tremble and wouldn't hold him up anymore.

What the hell was he going to tell the police, he was the world's worse liar. He shook his head. …Shit, how did he get himself into these situations? He was still confused as to why Cody had decided to let him go. He had been convinced that he was the one to watch out for. Maybe they had been jerking his chain all along and when it came down to it they just didn't have the balls to turn killer but he wasn't going to take that chance when the Cohen's safety was at stake. He'd just have to make sure he got his story right in his head before he spoke to the police.

He lay in the sand and shut his eyes. He would wait for the cramps to stop before he made the long journey back to the Cohen's house.

All in all things could have been a lot worse. O.K so he couldn't actually stand at the moment and it felt like he'd been run over by a truck but he was alive, which is more than he thought he'd be an hour ago.

**Tbc**

Now I know I'm demanding... and this story will get written with or without reviews 'cause I hate the whole...'I will only write the next chapter if I getX amount of reviews' crap...but people the stats say that this story has had **2508** hits...and **105** reviews?...Hmmmmmm! Damn the stats...they are making me a review whore :0) Seriously, thanks for the great comments, they do make my day.


	6. Chapter 6

Still not beta-ed...Sorry!

Disclaimer - I don't own anything to do with the OC.

Once again, a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love you all and want to have your babies.

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 6

Ryan opened his eyes; he stared up at the lightening sky in confusion. The night's events came screaming back into focus just before the pain did. He hauled himself up into a sitting position, wincing and holding onto his stomach. He wasn't sure if he'd passed out or just fallen asleep but however long he'd been out, it had played havoc with his bruised muscles. Everything seemed to have seized up and he could barely move. He grimaced as he inadvertently put his hand in the drying pool of vomit next to him; the abrasive quality of the sand came into play in a clean up operation. He couldn't remember being sick but he guessed that it had to have been him.

He wanted nothing more than to lay back down and not move again for a very long time but the rapidly changing sky was telling him that morning was approaching and he'd been out for too long. He needed to get back…he just wasn't looking forward to the walk.

He took a deep breath and got to his knees, he pushed himself upwards and stood unsteadily. It seemed a long way up from the ground all of a sudden and the feeling of vertigo assailed his body, he stumbled forward a few steps before he went down again. He rested his forehead in the cool sand for a while before he tried again. This time he managed to stay upright, in the loosest term of the word but he was up.

He started the long trek back up the beach.

The only way he managed to keep from giving up was by focusing on a point a little away ahead and promising himself a rest when he got there, what amounted to a thirty minute walk took him god knows how long. The first surfer of the morning had appeared on the shoreline in the distance indicating that the day had begun. He used him as a new focus spot, his confused state, his slightly fucked up brain turned the figure into a mirage of Sandy even though he knew it couldn't be him, and he thought that if he just reached that point then things would be O.K.

He felt dog-tired now and as he still quite a way from the surfer his legs gave out on him, if he had ached before, now it had reached a whole different level. The pain he was feeling was making him shaky and his legs couldn't hold him any longer… he crashed to the ground again. The surfer gave him a bored glance and continued to wax his board. Ryan knew that from this distance he probably looked like just another drunken teen back from an overnight bender. He didn't blame the guy for not giving a shit…he wondered if it he were in the same position whether he would have stopped to check.

He lay on the ground…this was stupid, he was so near the path that led directly to the house…he urged himself to get up and make the climb but his body was rebelling and for the first time that night he let himself wallow in the misery of self pity.

* * *

Kirsten and Sandy sat in the kitchen drinking coffee; it was only the caffeine and anxiety that was keeping them going at the moment. Ryan had been missing for over six hours now and the police had scaled down their operations at the house. With an apologetic statement that the search would be ongoing the majority of the police had cleared out. There was a blue and white posted out on the drive but the house was eerily empty now, like they were never there.

Summer sat silently at the kitchen table, Seth was slumped next to her with his head resting on his arms. They had had a lengthy discussion earlier on regarding whether Marissa should be put in the loop. Seth had been for…. Summer had been most definitely against. Summer's reasoning had been that she would find out soon enough and ignorance was bliss. She was trying to stay positive but the collective depression of the Cohen's was rubbing off on her.

She wondered what happened next…she had a vision of the house becoming like Miss Haversham's, complete with cobwebs and dust, while all the Cohens' waited silently for Ryan to return. She had never really given Ryan much thought before…he was just Ryan. When he had left for that summer with Theresa she had been so wrapped up in her own anger over Seth leaving that she hadn't really thought about how much Ryan had meant to this family. She was now seeing it first hand and it made her reflect on how little she really knew about him. The thought sickened her that she might never actually get to know the boy behind that complex exterior.

She needed some fresh air, she got up from the table and started to say where she was going but quickly realized that no one was remotely interested, they were all cocooned in their own thoughts and who could blame them. The enormity of the situation was just hitting her; she took an angry swipe at the tears that snaked down her cheek…who'd have thought that she'd be crying over Chino.

She walked out to the pool and gazed at the ocean, the morning air was crisp and clear, it was so peaceful out here that she had a hard time contemplating the horrors that had gone on in the house a few short hours ago. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to look at the pool house.

She broke her gaze away from the sky when she saw a figure in her peripheral vision she turned expecting to see Seth…she blinked a few times then ran over and caught Ryan as he stumbled. His weight brought her tumbling to the ground.

"Jesus."

She knelt next to Ryan and stared at him, taking in his bloodstained tee and the bruises that marred his pale face. He was shaking and his breathing was shallow, he looked like shit but she never felt like kissing someone so much in her life. The tears were streaming down her face in earnest now.

Ryan was here…. Ryan was alive.

She looked into his blue eyes and grinned, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"Are you looking down my top Atwood?"

Ryan gave a weak laugh then winced.

"Seth…. SETH." She yelled.

She felt like Santa on Christmas Eve as Mr and Mrs Cohen rushed out to the patio followed by Seth. The look on each of their faces restored her faith in human kind. She felt like she had given them their lives back.

**Tbc**

**Sorry the chapters are short but real life gets in the way.**


	7. Chapter 7

The Accidental Hero

Chapter 7

Sandy listened to Seth babble. The euphoria he felt at having Ryan back was evident; at first his mouth spewed forth a bitter diatribe against the people who had done this to his friend. He had swiftly moved on to how Ryan had indeed been endowed with super powers. Who else but a Chino super hero could have escaped from the clutches of two gun toting thugs and live to see the day? It was good to see Seth back; the quiet, morose individual of the last six hours had worried him. That wasn't Seth; this loud, wildly gesticulating teen was his son

They all waited in the hospital corridor for news on Ryan's condition.

Sandy would let himself feel the full joy of Ryan's return once they found out that he was going to be O.K. The initial elation of seeing Ryan lying on the patio in Summer's arms had been fantastic. Sandy had hated to admit it but he had feared the worse, he had tried to stay positive but he was sure that he'd get the call to identify his body at the morgue…to see Ryan alive was the best feeling in the world.

Kirsten had immediately run to the front of the house to summon the two cops when he and Seth could only stare. They radioed for an ambulance and put a call in to the station to say that the elusive Mr Atwood had just shown up back at the house. Only then did the cold hard shock set in as the Cohens took in his condition.

Sandy was no doctor but he could see the kid was in bad shape. Ryan was the type of person that if he were to accidentally cut the top of his finger off he'd swear blind that it was just a paper cut. The fact that he was still on the floor not making any attempt to get up spoke volumes. They could all see the bruises on his face but when Kirsten had gently lifted his tee to reveal the livid discoloration that covered his torso, it was clear to see that the bastards had really worked him over.

The EMT-P's had quickly rushed in and his guardians could only watch the flurry of activity happening around Ryan as they assessed him. Sandy had held onto Kirsten's hand and listened to snatches of their conversation. _'Could indicate internal bleeding'… 'Possible kidney damage'… 'His B.P's low'… 'Tachycardic'…'He's clammy to the touch'… 'Showing signs of shock'…'Let's get him on some oxygen'…_

They had loaded him onto a stretcher and all they could do was follow him blindly to the hospital. The wait was the worst. Every time a white coat came down the corridor they all jumped to attention, only to fall back into their seats when the doctor passed them by. Sandy voiced his thoughts that he might just throttle someone if he didn't hear something soon; Kirsten muttered that he would have to get behind her in line for that privilege, Summer added that she was first. Seth just scowled.

* * *

Ryan was getting pissed off. He'd been prodded, poked, x-rayed and scanned. They told him to relax but when he did, they told him…no, he mustn't sleep… he must keep awake. He felt like a performing poodle as they all barked orders and questions at him.

_Could he feel that, could he feel this? _

_Was he dizzy? _

_Vision blurred? _

_Did that hurt when pressed? _

_Did this? _

_Can you move your legs…. now your arms…. pins and needles anywhere? _

_Nauseous? _

That particular question had been answered quite definitely as an outpouring of vomit rushed out of his throat with no chance of warning his attendants. He'd been rolled quickly onto his side and what he could only think was a mini vacuum cleaner nozzle had been unceremoniously shoved into his mouth. He was then rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling and all the faces once more.

If he had to choose one word to describe how he felt, it would be miserable and just as he was beginning to think that they were indeed just tormenting him for sport, he had felt a warm glow travel up his arm and he felt his eyelids grow heavy as they finally let him sleep.

* * *

"Hey, sleepyhead. I was wondering when you were going to wake up!"

A soft singsong voice broke through the white noise he heard in his head and he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked several times until he could focus on the person in front of him. A smiling, auburn haired nurse was looking down at him.

"Hi Honey, I'm Sandie, your nurse and you must be Ryan."

She must have seen him look around the room confused. She smiled at him again.

"The other Sandy is outside and probably cursing me. I wanted some 'alone time' with you to do your checks. How're you feeling?"

"A bit rough."

Sandie laughed.

"Honey I believe that is probably the understatement of the year but I've been warned by your family that you're the strong silent type."

She went to the top of his bed, raised him to a semi reclining position, and noticed him wince as he moved.

"It's time for your meds now anyway young man so you should feel a bit more comfortable soon."

Ryan watched as she injected the canular in the back of his hand.

"Thanks."

"They also told me you were polite and that you were quite the one with the ladies. I must admit that they were right on all counts. Boy, there is going to be a rush on the ward with nurses volunteering to give you a bed bath. I think I'll pull rank on that one! Those pain meds kicking in yet Honey?"

Ryan felt himself blush to the roots of his hair as he nodded.

Nurse Sandie laughed at his expression. It was cruel to wind the boy up so soon but she always figured that banter helped take away the unpleasantness of being stuck in a hospital bed, also she never could keep her wicked sense of humor in check. She winked and opened the door and called his visitors in.

"He's all yours, ladies and gentlemen…. I'll see you later with my sponge Ryan."

She gave him a bawdy wink and breezed out of the room.

"How do you do that Ryan, even asleep you attract the ladies?" Sandy laughed.

"Sweetie…how are you feeling?" Kirsten lent in and gave him a gentle hug.

"Hey, it's good to see you awake man. You don't know how boring it is watching you snore for hours Ryan." Seth held his hand out for a high five. Ryan slapped his hand.

"Good to see you man." Ryan smiled at his friend.

"He was not snoring Seth!" Kirsten exclaimed.

"Well drooling then, he was definitely drooling."

"There was a certain amount of drool involved." Sandy chuckled.

"Don't listen to them Ryan, you did not drool and you did not snore!" Kirsten shot a despairing look at her husband and son.

Ryan looked around the room at Sandy, Kirsten and Seth as they all beamed at him. It was a strange feeling to have all their attention on him at once and he suddenly felt overwhelmed. Tears pricked at the back of his eyes as it suddenly hit home that he could have lost everything last night. What if things had gone differently? Without this family he would truly have nothing. He lowered his head and willed the tears not to fall.

Sandy frowned. He shot a look to Seth and Kirsten. The doctor had explained that his injuries, although not life threatening, had been severe and he'd be feeling the effects for quite a while until the deep bruising on his body faded. The doctor had gone on to say he was most surprised that Ryan had managed to get home at all unaided. Sandy had warned them that none of them knew what happened to Ryan in those six missing hours and the police liaison had mentioned how hard some victims had coping with forced captivity. Sandy knew how much it had affected them and they had only experienced a fraction of what Ryan must have. Watching Ryan with his head bowed made Sandy realize that they couldn't just breeze past this like it was a normal accident. Ryan had probably been through hell.

Kirsten put her arm around Seth and squeezed him.

"Come on, let's go and see what magazines they have for Ryan down at the shop."

"I'll see if I can slip a Playboy in there for you buddy." Seth said tentatively, looking to see if Ryan would respond. He didn't. They closed the door quietly on the way out.

"Hey kid, it's going to be O.K." Sandy put his arm around Ryan.

Ryan raised his head and gave a small sigh.

"It's just…you know…"

Sandy could barely hear his voice it was so quiet.

"It's all a bit much…I know. You O.K? Are you in pain? I can get that cute nurse back?"

Ryan gave his crooked half smile.

"She just gave me a shot, I'm good. Are you all alright after…I mean, what they did?"

"Ryan you're the one in hospital, don't worry about us, we're all fine. Well, we are now that we know you are O.K…kid you can't believe how worried we all were. Seriously I'd trade a month locked in a room with Caleb compared to not knowing that you were safe."

Ryan tried to laugh but it came out as a strangled croak.

"Ryan… I can't thank you enough for what you did. If you hadn't stepped in when you did… with Kirsten."

Ryan just nodded.

"But kid that was so stupid, you could have been killed. What were you thinking?"

"Kirsten was more important."

"No. When will you realize that you are just as important to me as Seth and Kirsten? I almost went out of my mind when you disappeared, we all did."

Ryan shrugged.

Sandy wondered if Ryan would ever truly understand that he was one of the family. He sat back in his chair.

"Are you up to telling me what happened?"

Ryan shut his eyes again as he realized that he was going to have to lie.

"It wasn't that bad Sandy."

Sandy studied Ryan, waiting for him to go on, but realized that that was it. He didn't want to push him but this needed to be done.

"The police are outside and they want to talk to you. Don't worry, I'll be here with you kid."

Sandy watched Ryan's head snap up.

"If you get this out of the way then you can relax and get better. I know you and the police are a nervous mix but you have nothing to worry about."

As if on cue the door opened and two cops entered.

Ryan felt himself tense up. Shit, he wasn't prepared for them now.

They introduced themselves as Officers Parker and O'Farrell and got down to business. Ryan was aware of Sandy's eyes on him and he tried not to react to the name Parker.

The next half hour was a ballet back and forth as they threw questions at him, Ryan giving the general gist of what had happened. How he'd hit one, and then got caught by the other, the trek to the beach at gunpoint and the beating, the lost hours when he'd been out.

He glanced at Sandy and didn't like the look of pity he saw there. So he looked away.

He seemed to repeat everything a dozen times.

No, they hadn't removed their masks, and no they hadn't said anything that would help to identify them in any way.

No, there was no car mentioned by either of them.

It was dark, he had a gun at his back and was lugging an unconscious man, and his brain wasn't exactly tuned in for information gathering.

He explained about the police search of the beach and why they hadn't been found. It was pitch black along that stretch and they were well hidden. He kept to himself the conversation he'd overheard, saying that he hadn't really taken in what they had said due to the fact that he was more focused on the gun being held under his chin, but he pointedly looked at Officer Parker as he stood at the end of the bed. The cop had the good grace to look embarrassed. He gave a description of the two men knowing that the Cohens would have done that already.

He felt himself relax as Officer O'Farrell turned his attention to Sandy.

"Sir, we're mystified that no car was found at the scene. We think that maybe there was a third person that we have yet to identify…"

That had been bothering Ryan. Why hadn't they just left out the front? Why had they chosen the beach path for their escape? There wouldn't have been enough time for the police to arrive when Cody had discovered him, they could have just left the way they'd come.

"Ryan." Sandy's voice cut through his thoughts.

Ryan realized that the police were thanking him and telling him they'd get back to him if needed.

Ryan gave a shaky sigh. He felt sick and his headache had returned with a vengeance. Ryan eyed the bowl next to his bed. Sandy had sat back down again and was studying him; he removed the bowl and held it out for Ryan.

Ryan sat in silence, staring at the bowl and concentrated on not throwing up. When the feeling passed he eventually looked up at Sandy.

"You O.K?" Sandy asked.

"Mmm."

Sandy lent back in his chair and wiped his hand across his face.

"So do you want to tell me what _really_ happened and why you lied to the police just now? All those years in the PD's office kid were not wasted. I can smell a lie a mile off and you are really, really bad at it."

Tbc


	8. Chapter 8

Not beta-ed - All mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer - I own nothing related to The OC sob

**Accidental Hero**

Chapter 8

"Why did you lie?" Sandy repeated again softly. "You know you can tell me anything?"

"I didn't lie…"

"Ryan…."

Ryan felt like a caged animal under Sandy's penetrating gaze. He knew that the chances of Sandy dropping this were zero and suddenly he felt angry, angry that he was in this position in the first place, angry that Sandy felt that he had to pry, angry with the fact that he lost no matter which way he turned. Sandy didn't understand how he felt…how this was already weighing on his mind.

He hadn't had time to process the information in his head yet. Something was nagging him…something he couldn't put his finger on. He couldn't tell the truth until he worked it out, he couldn't risk screwing it up when the Cohen's lives were maybe at risk and Sandy sitting there like he was able to make things O.K when Ryan knew that things were far from right just pissed him off.

Kirsten and Seth opened the door and entered the room. Kirsten looked at one then the other, taking in Ryan's tense posture on the bed and her husband's grim look of determination. They had waited for the police to leave, hoping that the visit hadn't upset Ryan anymore; Kirsten was surprised to see that Ryan with an attitude had replaced the down beaten boy on the bed.

"What's going on...Sandy?"

Ryan struggled to sit up. He figured now was a good time to use the anger he was feeling to good purpose.

"You want to know why I lied Sandy…you really want to know... I'll tell you, How do you think I feel knowing that after two years of living here people still see me as a fucking con, that I was someway part of this because fuck it I'm from Chino and that means I know every criminal in California. How should I feel when I hear that I'm someone not worth giving a shit about…how do you think I felt hearing those cops on the beach laughing and joking about finding my body and not even bothering with the search because they already had me pegged as dead…. I had a fucking gun at my throat Sandy…I thought I was going to die and they'd just confirmed it for me…"

Ryan's voice was rising with every word.

"Then I have to sit here speaking to those assholes as they question me about why I don't have more information …if they had just done their job properly in the first place I wouldn't be laying here after getting the shit kicked out of me… cops have never done my family any favors, so sorry if I seem a little out of sorts at the moment Sandy."

The nurse appeared in the room.

"What the hell is going on in here?"

Sandy looked shocked.

"Ryan I'm sorry…"

"I'm going to have to ask you all to leave." Nurse Sandie leapt into action.

Ryan suddenly noticed that he felt light headed, the heart monitor next to him was pinging and he seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

Ryan looked up at Sandy as the nurse put an oxygen mask over his face, he felt like such a shit to have laid this at his door. Sandy looked crushed that he had caused this but Ryan suspected it was his own guilt and worry that was causing this panic attack.

He gulped the air from the mask but that made things worse until the nurse sat on the bed with him and calmed his breathing to slow, steady breaths. His vision cleared and the pins and needles in his arms receded.

"You feel better now?"

Ryan nodded at the nurse and went to take the mask off.

"Uhh uhhh, you keep that on for a while. Lay back and get some rest. You've been thorough enough and fisty-cuffs with your family isn't recommended quite so soon kid…"

Ryan laid back and shut his eyes …this day was definitely turning to crap but at least he hoped he had diverted Sandy's radar for the time being.

* * *

"How could this happen Sandy? …I'm going to get those cops thrown of the force…this is just incredible. No wonder Ryan is mad…I'm mad. How dare they not take his life seriously…"

"Mom calm down or you'll end up in a bed next to Ryan."

Seth was subdued again. He knew that acceptance was a big part of Ryan's insecurities, he had thought that after all this time Ryan had been embraced by the community and Ryan's little jibes to the fact he hadn't and would never be were just in his mind. Seth realized that Ryan was right…he would always be known as the kid who stole cars and burnt down houses. He'd just been too blind to see it.

"We can put a complaint in…" Sandy sat with his head against the wall.

"You know that Ryan won't want that, that's why he tried to keep it from you." Seth knew Ryan; he wouldn't want a fuss made, that wasn't his style.

Sandy wondered when his kid became so smart.

They all jumped as the nurse exited his room.

"How is he?" Sandy stood up.

"He's sleeping now. If you can't play nicely I'll have you barred from his room …he needs calm and rest at the moment and not family disputes. You are lucky that this was just a minor panic attack."

"I'm sorry…it won't happen again." Sandy didn't need to be told, he already felt as guilty as hell."

"You can go in now but don't disturb him or you'll have me to answer too." The nurse said sternly.

Seth made a salute to her back as she strode down the hall.

"Am I the only one who is scared of her right now?"

* * *

Ryan lay on his bed with Marissa curled up next to him. It was ten days after the burglary and he was pretty much mended. It still hurt his ribs when he coughed and sneezed but he could walk upright now and his body no longer looked like a Jackson Pollock painting.

He had started to let his guard down…any threat seemed far away now. There had been several more break-ins in the area in the last week but Sandy had fortified the house with extra security…the place resembled Colditz but it was safer. Ryan had had a stand up argument with the Cohen's when they said that they wanted him to move inside…his argument being that things could have been a lot different if he had been in the house that night, he had pointedly looked at Kirsten when he said this. They had backed down. At least Sandy was off his back now, he had bought his story about the cops as the reason why he'd hadn't been entirely truthful and they had obeyed his wishes that he didn't want to make a complaint, they weren't happy about it but Ryan had said he just wanted to put the whole thing behind him.

They were still treating him like a hero…he felt like a fraud, he had just been in the right place at the right time…it had all been an accident really, nothing remotely heroic in hitting a man on the head when he had his back to you.

Marissa had certainly treated him like a returning war hero, not that he was complaining…he grinned at the memory of his third night home from hospital; she had been amazingly gentle with him, which was no mean feat considering his body had been so bruised. Marissa shifted against him when the phone rang. It was probably Julie checking up on Marissa.

He picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello Ryan…how are you feeling now?"

Ryan froze and sat bolt upright. Marissa looked at him. He got up and went outside.

"What the fuck do you want?" Ryan felt sweat blanket his body.

He heard a soft laugh at the other end.

"I think you know Ryan, I'm pleased you kept our little bargain…very smart."

"Yeah I kept the bargain and that's it...Cody this is over…leave us alone."

"You know I can't do that Ryan. …You're too important. Meet us at the Blue Bear in one hour…I don't need to tell you what will happen if you don't comply."

"No…this is over."

"Ryan you have one hour."

The phone gave the ominous buzz, as the connection was broken.

Ryan slid his back down the wall. Of course this was happening.

­­---- ---- ---- ----- ---- ----- ---- ---- ----- ----- ---

Ryan dropped Marissa off at her house, she had kept asking about the phone call and why he'd come back in the room looking like a ghost. So he'd fobbed her off with the story that it had been Dawn. She seemed to buy that…she knew that speaking to his mom always freaked him out. He was getting to be quite the liar at the moment.

She looked worried as he had sped off but he had bigger things on his mind now.

He parked a few blocks away from the Bar; it was in the seedier part of town. He had made good time he had thirty minutes to kill, He pushed open the door and walked up to the bar and ordered a scotch. He looked around to see if Cody and Pete were here yet, the place was crowded but he couldn't see them. He knocked back his drink and then ordered a double. He was tempted to order another but he had already downed more than the legal drink limit for driving.

He kept checking his watch but time seemed to have slowed. He got up and got some cigarettes from the machine on the wall then made a trip to the bathroom but found the door locked…great. He went to the back door and walked outside, he parked himself in the shadows and took a piss up against the wall, the sound of a car entering the ally made him turn his head…the flash of the blue and red lights dimmed as the car shut off its engine…. shit, Ryan finished and zipped himself up, it would be just his luck to get pulled in for a public misdemeanour. He flattened himself against the wall and watched as two men approached the cop car.

The cops got out.

Ryan watched as Officers Parker and O'Farrell greeted Cody and Pete like old friends.

It had suddenly become clear in his head the all the things that had been bothering him. How Pete and Cody had managed to get past the security, why no car was found at the scene. It became clear why Cody had suddenly changed toward him…. it was only after Parker had said loudly on the beach that he wasn't a Cohen and that he'd been inside.

He was so fucking screwed.

**Tbc**

Now you're all slacking, the reviews are tailing off...don't make me get my whip out. This chapter is a long one...so make me happy!

I just want to say also if there is anyone out there who voted in this years Citrus Awards.

I'm so excited to have won the 'Best Parody' section with 'The Door' and to get an honerable mention for 'Best Original Character' for Missy from 'Come Undone' was fab. So thank you. big smoochie kiss


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks to Melanie39 for beta-ing. Love her to bit's, I've missed her skills these last few chapters.

Disclaimer- I still own nothing to do with The OC.

**The Accidental Hero**

Ryan sat at a table and nursed another scotch. So he was over the limit now but he really didn't care. He felt ill. How had things gotten so twisted? The cops being in on the scam was just peachy, it added a whole new level of shit to the already huge pile.

He felt a slap to his back that knocked the wind out of him. Cody sat down opposite him. Ryan glanced over to see Pete standing at the bar.

"I see you've started without us!"

Cody nodded to the drink in front of Ryan.

"Why am I here Cody? I kept my end of the bargain."

"Yes…yes you did and that was very wise, but the thing is Ryan…we've been thinking how useful you could be to us."

Pete banged down two bottles of beer on the table.

"What …nothing for me Pete? You wound me."

Ryan gave Pete a look of pure hate. He then turned back to Cody.

"Why do you need me for anything? Or are you getting greedy? Tell me, is it a straight partnership between you two and Parker and O'Farrell or are they just getting a kickback from you?"

Cody narrowed his eyes and turned to Pete.

"See Pete? I told you he was smart. Didn't I say that the kid was as slick as owl shit?"

Pete looked worried.

"How the fuck does he know about that?"

Ryan sat back and wondered if this revelation was the thing that was going to get him killed.

"It doesn't matter how he knows Pete. What does matter is that him knowing changes nothing. If anything it makes things easier now that he's figured it out. You see Pete, what Ryan doesn't realize is the cops can get us onto the fancy estates and no-one bats an eyelid about a cop car patrolling but having someone on the inside so to speak will be the icing on the cake."

"No way." Ryan shook his head. "I'm not casing any houses for you."

Cody brought his face up close to Ryan's.

"Oh but you are. You see the thing is… you get invited into these houses and you are going to prove to be very useful to us."

"Fuck you…I'm not getting involved in this."

Cody's hand shot out and grabbed his throat. Several people looked over idly but no one remained remotely interested and they went back to their drinking.

Ryan gasped as Cody squeezed slightly.

"Get this straight in your head boy…you may think that you're all safe in your castle on the hill now but think of this little scenario. That fine Mrs Cohen driving home late one night from the office? She sees the flash of lights in her rear view mirror and pulls over like the responsible citizen she is…. it's easy to make her disappear…Pete here could finish what he started…hell, we all could have a go."

Cody gave his throat one last squeeze before he slammed Ryan's head back against the wall behind.

Ryan shut his eyes and rubbed his neck. He was in over his head now and there was no way out.

Cody smirked.

"I think he's got it now Pete…go get him a beer."

* * *

The first one had been easy. They had all been invited to an anniversary party for the CEO of one of the local banks. Ryan had wandered unnoticed through the house noting where the alarm sensors were located and the weak points of entry. It had been easy.

A few days later at the dinner table, when Sandy had mentioned the fact that the Petersons had been burgled, tied up and beaten like they had been, was not so easy. That's when it hit home that he was now implicated in this up to his neck. There was no turning back.

* * *

Sandy sat down on the bed and removed his shoes and socks.

"Do you think Ryan's O.K?"

Kirsten looked around from the table where she was taking her make-up off.

"Why do you ask?"

"He doesn't seem himself at the moment. I know he's normally quiet but he's more so recently. Even Seth has noticed." Sandy looked over at the pool house as he spoke, the lights were still on even though it was late.

"I think he's just worried about what he's going to do when he goes to college. I do think that he's actually going to go for architecture. All week he's turned up at the Newport group. He's asked if he can do that permanently to get a feel of the place…it must be boring as hell for him but he insists on staying and getting a lift home with me."

"I suppose it could be just that…it's a big thing for him to think about. But I'm not so sure it's just that. Has he mentioned if he and Marissa are O.K?"

"They seem to be…Seth would have said something if they weren't." Kirsten replied.

"Maybe I'm just being too sensitive. We know what Ryan's like but every time I try to speak to him he makes an excuse. You don't think Dawn is contacting him do you?"

Sandy couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with Ryan. He sighed. He'd get to the bottom of it eventually.

* * *

The second and third jobs were large houses on the beach. It was the same drill as before.

When Kirsten mentioned to them all as she unpacked the Take Out, that the Simpson's had been burgled and that Phil was in hospital with a suspected heart attack after he had tried to protect his wife from one of the men, Ryan finally lost it. He managed to sit through dinner. He picked at his food, he smiled at Seth's stories but inside he died.

He retreated to the pool house and paced, his hands laced behind his head. Panic had set in. He wasn't a bad person but he was fucking up people's lives. He had to do something, he couldn't go on like this. He couldn't sleep, couldn't eat and he felt permanently sick. His brain kept working over and over, trying to find a solution. The only one that came to hand whirled and crashed around his head. He wasn't a weak person but at this point in time there was only one way out. If he wasn't around anymore then Pete and Cody wouldn't have a hold over him. He wouldn't be a great loss to society…hell, one less Atwood in the world would be a bonus as all they ever seemed to do was screw up. But then the fear lodged itself in his mind that if he did end it, who would look after Kirsten? What if they took it out on her the fact that they had lost the golden egg?

He had to end this. He had to end this now. He just didn't know how.

* * *

Ryan waited under the pier. He was surprised to see officers Parker and O'Farrell turn up for his meeting with Pete and Cody, this was a first.

"We thought it was time we all got to know one another, seeing as you're part of this merry band Ryan…" Cody grinned.

"Look, people are getting suspicious." Ryan looked at the cops.

"No shit Sherlock! But we know for a fact the police haven't put two and two together yet." Parker laughed.

"It's only a matter of time before this scam is up. That's why we are stepping up this operation." O'Farrell stared at Ryan.

Cody got a piece of paper out of his pocket.

"Here is a list of events. Make sure you go."

Ryan peered at the list.

"Half of these we won't be invited to…you'll have to think of something else."

He thrust the list at Pete defiantly.

Pete grabbed Ryan's wrist and twisted. He put the page back into Ryan's hand.

"Make sure you get invited."

Cody lit a cigarette. "You'll see that there are some written instructions for you this time. Don't screw up."

Ryan looked at the page again.

"I can't read the fucking writing. What the hell does that say?"

He pointed at the scrawled paragraph at the bottom.

"Shit Cody, I thought you said this kid was smart?" Parker crowded Ryan and grabbed the sheet. He frowned.

"Fuck O'Farrell! You write this while you were jerking off?"

"See. I told you I couldn't read it…" Ryan responded with a slight pissed off edge.

O'Farrell grabbed the page from Parker.

"Jesus…what is wrong with you all…it's perfectly clear. See…"

O'Farrell explained the instructions to Ryan.

"You got that? There is no room for a fuck up on this one. We need you to disable the alarm before we can go in. It's easy on that model, that's why I recommended it, the stupid idiots asked me for advice on a new alarm system what with all the burglaries in the area."

O'Farrell laughed.

"It'll be like taking candy from a baby…are you clear on what you need to do?"

Ryan nodded.

"You're right Cody, he is smart." O'Farrell leaned in. "You mess this up and you'll know about it."

Pete punched him on the arm as they left.

* * *

Ryan crept back to the pool house. The main house was in darkness. He put on the side lamp and sat on the bed. He got a pad out and started to write. He wrote solidly for two hours before he put the pen down.

He walked to the kitchenette and rummaged through the drawers before he found what he wanted.

He made sure the house was locked before he posted his keys, wallet and the letter he'd just written in the mailbox.

He took one last look at the house before he walked away.

He walked down the drive with his bike. He rode to the pier and waited for the dawn before he dialled Cody's number.

"Cody, we need to talk. Meet me in half an hour, usual place."

Ryan rested his head against his knees.

There was no good way to end this but it would all be over soon…one way or another.

**Tbc.**

I hope this chapter clears up a few things for some of you:0)

Thanks to all who reviewed...I do a little chair dance whenever I see that someone has taken the time. (it's the only exercise I get so help keep cheeky healthy!)


	10. Chapter 10

Here is a little teaser chapter...'cause I've heard the phrase 'Treat them mean...keep 'em keen'.

A huge gold star to **Antigone11** for being the only one to work out what Ryan was doing with the 'list' in the last chapter. Clever sausage you!

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 10.

The sun had risen in the sky above, the waves lapped at the shoreline. The two men went unnoticed under the pier.

Ryan stood in front of Cody and waited for his response. He saw a mix of expressions cross the older mans face. He held his breath, he needed to do this.

"Let me get this straight…what you're saying is _YOU_ want a cut of the profits?" Cody choked out a laugh.

Ryan clenched and unclenched his hands.

"It was said yesterday that it's only a matter of time before this scam is up. I'm not sticking around to find out if they put my name in the frame. I just want enough to get away…. start over again as you've fucked things up for me around here."

Cody stared intently at him. Ryan stared back.

"You've got balls I'll give you that…and why should I even consider giving a piss ant like you anything."

Ryan squared his shoulders.

"Because I've been screwed over my whole life and I'm not about to be again…you made me part of this and I want my cut. I'm willing to get more involved…I know of a perfect house and the owners are away tonight, I know how to get in and I know that they've a lot of cash around…I want in, no more just casing the joints."

Cody frowned as if he was summing Ryan up, and then gave him a grin. He held out his hand for Ryan to shake.

"This might just work out for the best."

Ryan reached his hand out. He suppressed a shudder; he had the feeling that he had just made a pact with the devil.

"There's something we need to do first."

Cody led him back to his car.

"Get in."

* * *

Sandy made his way up the drive, the day was warm already and it looked like the surf was perfect this morning. As he loaded his surfboard on top of the car he noticed that the mailbox flag was up. It was too early for a delivery, his interest piqued he unlocked the box and peered inside. He pulled out a wallet, set of keys and a letter. His heart started beating fast as he noted Ryan's neat script on the envelope…'Sandy', just one word and he felt panic rising…

All thoughts of surfing forgotten as he sat on the front step and opened the letter.

* * *

Ryan tried to keep his cool as Cody drove, he didn't have a clue where they were going and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The way Cody was smirking was making him feel very nervous. They pulled up outside a rundown apartment complex and got out. Ryan followed him up the cracked linoleum lined stairs and stood outside the door as Cody banged on it with the side of his fist.

The door opened a crack and Pete peered out from behind the security chain.

"What the hell is he doing' here?"

"Stop being a pussy and open the door." Cody barked.

The door shut briefly and Ryan heard the rattle of a chain being drawn back.

Pete opened the door again and Cody pushed his was inside.

Pete eyed Ryan with suspicion but kept quiet. His tall, lanky frame was encased in a tee and pair of boxers.

Cody gazed around the squalid room in distaste, at the empty beer cans and greasy pizza boxes.

"Shit Pete…you live like a pig in a sty."

Pete sat down on one of the chairs in the room.

"I wasn't expecting company Cody…why you here?"

Cody strode around the apartment as he talked. Ryan stood unsure of what was happening here, he looked over at the door to check that he had a free run if needed.

" Well Pete… the thing is I've been thinking a lot the past few days…we've known each other for a while now …"

Ryan watched as Cody picked up a cushion as if he was inspecting it, he picked several, imaginary pieces of lint off and brushed it with his hand.

"…You've been a good friend to me but quite frankly you've become a bit of a liability."

"What…" Pete started to look pissed.

" You see… you can't just keep it in your pants can you…I don't give a shit what you do on your own time but when we're on a job you don't listen to me anymore. You don't show me respect."

Ryan saw Cody reach around to the waistband at the back of his pants…he stepped back as he saw what was happening as if it was in slow motion. He didn't even have time to shout a warning.

The gun came up as Cody stepped forward and brought the cushion up close in front of Pete. It was like a bazaar, choreographed ballet, Pete started to rise out of the chair…as Cody pulled the trigger, there was a loud bang like a car backfiring.

Ryan found himself with his back against the wall staring at the chair in front of him.

Cody turned to Ryan and dropped the cushion on the floor, it's centre singed and ragged.

Ryan felt himself gag as he looked at where Pete's head used to be.

Cody cocked his head to one side and raised his eyebrow at Ryan.

"You still want to be my partner?"

Cody opened the door and left the apartment.

Ryan bent double as his stomach violently expelled its contents.

* * *

Sandy was shaking as he got to the end of the Ryan's hand written letter detailing everything that happened the night of the burglery and after.

' _Enclosed in the sandwich bag is a list of houses, on it are the fingerprints of Officers Parker and O'Farrell and Pete and Cody. This will prove that I'm telling the truth. It incriminates everyone including myself._

_Sandy, please believe me when I say that I did the wrong thing for the right reasons. Things just escalated… I wanted so many times to tell you what was going on but I didn't know what to do or who to trust. What if this runs deeper and Parker and O'Farrell aren't the only cops involved…I couldn't take that risk with Kirsten's life or yours and Seth's but things are so fucked up now…I've got to do something and I know that there is no get out clause for me now._

_This has got to stop…people are getting hurt and I can't take it anymore. So it's in your hands now. You'll know what to do…there must be someone you know, someone who you can trust. I've done all I can._

_Sorry just doesn't cut it…I've become everything I despise…. I didn't want this and I wish now that things had ended differently on the beach._

_Thanks for everything you tried to do for me Sandy._

_Ryan'_

Sandy got up and slowly walked to his study, he got his phone book out and flicked through for a number. As he dialled he felt numb.

The phone answered.

"Roger…. I need to see you immediately."

Sandy didn't even stop to change out of his surfing clothes. He got in the car and sped off. His only thought was how to stop Ryan before he entered on the course of destruction he'd set himself on.

**_TBC _**

I'm evil I know.

Thanks for all the reviews...ya know they keep me happy and make me smile.

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	11. Chapter 11

Not beta-ed so all mistakes are mine alone.

Disclaimer - I own nothing related to The OC

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 11

Sandy had driven to the station and met up with an old poker playing buddy from his days at the PD's office, he also happened to be a Sergeant on the force and someone Sandy knew was as straight as a arrow, this guy wouldn't accept so much as a coffee from a store owner in case it was construed as a kickback. He had handed over the letter from Ryan and watched as Roger's face had turned to stone. The next thing he knew was he was taken down the hall to an office. Sandy had spent enough time in police stations to know these men reeked of internal affairs. So they were already here.

Sandy answered their questions the best he could, he was getting more and more frustrated by the minute that they were hell bent on concentrating on the cops involved and ignoring the Ryan side of things. He felt stupid sat in his baggy shorts and his day-glow tee shirt; it was like he had suddenly dropped half his IQ points just because he wasn't wearing a suit. It had been hours but they were still treating him like a mushroom…keeping him in the dark and feeding him on shit. Kirsten rang constantly to see what was happening but he had nothing to tell her or Seth. He was going to start throwing his weight around soon unless someone told him something.

Roger found him by the auto-vend machine trying to decide whether the coffee he'd just requested was safe to drink. Sandy threw his coffee in the trash as he saw his face.

"You've got news…what is it?"

"Let's take a walk Sandy." Roger didn't let Sandy argue.

They sat in an empty interview room. Roger tried to wipe the fatigue out of his face.

"As you know by the internal affairs boys being here that there was a suspicion that someone on the force might be involved in the break-ins…these are high security residential areas Sandy, it was the next logical step. They were in the process of tracing log sheets to find out which cars patrolled the areas that were affected on certain nights. Ryan's letter confirmed what they found. It seems that Parker and O'Farrell weren't stupid and realized that the game was almost up…neither of them turned up for their shifts this morning and their cribs are empty. Looks like they left in a hurry."

"That's not what your here to tell me though is it?" Sandy had played poker with him long enough to read him like a book.

"No…we got a match on Cody and Pete."

Roger pushed over two buff files to Sandy.

Sandy looked at the faces of the two men that had torn his family apart in such a short space of time. Cody Berman and Pete Corso. He read their rap sheets; Corso's was mainly sex offences interwoven with petty theft and drunk and disorderly arrests. Berman was another story; he'd spent almost half of his sixty years on earth inside for a series of brutal assaults and robberies. There were several dead bodies that had mysteriously showed up at the same places Berman did but the police could never pin anything on him; he always had an unbreakable alibi when questioned. Sandy saw the same phrase being used again and again, 'shows signs of classic psychopathic behavior'…This was 'boots'… the man that he'd not wanted Ryan anywhere near that night. This was the man that had scared the hell out of Sandy with his cold, dead stare…this was the man that had beaten the hell out of Ryan then prayed on the boy's weaknesses and blackmailed him into this mess. He shut the folders and pushed them back to his friend.

Roger took a deep breath.

"That's not all Sandy, the police raided Corso's an hour ago, they found Pete Corso's body, he'd been shot at point blank range in the head, it was not a pretty sight."

Roger paused before he continued.

"A witness places Berman and a kid that matches Ryan at the scene."

Sandy shut his eyes.

"A neighbor saw them exit the building shortly after she heard what she thought was a shot, she couldn't say if Ryan was there under duress or not but she said he looked agitated. I'm sorry Sandy. We've got cops staking out Berman's place but they haven't shown yet…. I don't need to tell you that we are extremely concerned for Ryan right now. Berman is a grade one psycho. What the hell was the kid thinking? "

Sandy got up from the table.

"That's the thing Roger…I don't think Ryan cares anymore. That's why we've got to get him out of this."

* * *

Ryan was glad of the womb like darkness the bar offered, it helped to mask how much he was rattled. Every time he shut his eyes he repeatedly saw the red bloom of spray as Pete's head had exploded like a watermelon. What made it worse was that Cody was acting like nothing untoward had happened…acting like he hadn't recently blown his friends brains out with a Colt python in cold blood. He sat laughing with a woman he obviously knew, making jokes at Ryan's expense regarding his age and how green he was like they were old buddies…which regarding Cody's recent actions was not remotely comforting. All he could do was smile weakly and hope he had the nerve to see things through this evening. If he could then things would finally be over. 

Ryan felt sick to the stomach, he had hated Pete with a passion for what he had tried to do to Kirsten…for what he had done to other women. It had brought back issues for him…issues that were too close to home and as much as he had wished him dead, he wouldn't have wished that end on him. No matter how many 'shot 'em up' films Seth had insisted they watch nothing could have ever prepared him for the reality.

On film, violence seemed larger than life, the gun always loud and smoking, the blood and gore splattered dramatically but in reality it was more macabre. The only other time he'd been near a shooting was when Marissa had shot Trey but he had been semi-conscious on the floor, that had been like a dream sequence and he hadn't been in much of a state to take things in. The fact that Trey had survived had taken the edge off that incident…this would be imprinted on his brain forever. There had been no dramatic, swelling music to signal impending danger, the gun going off had sounded strangely hollow like a fair ground pistol used to gain a cheap fluffy toy for a loved one and the blood and matter had been very liquid and fine not like the syrupy, viscous red of the movies. It was the mundane quality of the scene that had made it horrific, the blood soaked pizza boxes lay testament to the fact that this man had recently enjoyed a meal and hadn't a clue that that would be his last.

Ryan took a long pull on his beer and wondered if this would be the last beer he would ever drink. He looked at his watch…it was almost time. Cody had kept him close all day, which was probably a good thing…it meant less chance of him getting cold feet.

--- ----- --- ---- ---- --- --- - -- - -- - -- - -- ----- -

"Sandy you're not coming…there is no way that they are going to let a civilian along on this one."

Sandy paced.

"Please…I've got to be there. Ryan needs to know I'm there, I'm telling you Roger you don't know this kid like I do. He feels like he let us down…he's got nothing to lose, that this is his fault."

Roger placed a hand on Sandy's back.

"I know…I know, trust me Sandy. I won't let anything happen to him. I promise."

Sandy knew he wasn't going to win this one.

"Roger don't let him do anything stupid."

"I won't."

* * *

They pulled up outside Caleb's mansion, Caleb might be dead but this place would be forever known in Ryan's mind as Caleb's. Ryan felt the tight knot in his stomach intensify. 

"Sweet…who did you say lived here again?"

Cody switched of the engine.

"My ex-girlfriend." He responded flatly. It wasn't a lie; he couldn't see Marissa wanting anything more to do with him after this got out.

"They're away for the weekend at Monmouth, I know how to get in and I know the code for the alarm, it made things easier for me to pay her late night visits without her parents knowing."

Cody studied him.

"How do you know they haven't changed the code …how ex is this ex of yours?"

"Recent and they won't have changed the code…it took long enough for her mom to remember this one. So, are we waiting for Parker and O'Farrell?"

Cody chuckled.

"Nope, we're flying solo on this one…why split things four ways when two is such a nicer number."

Cody handed him two pairs of thin latex gloves.

"Put both pairs on…you still leave latents with just one pair."

Ryan put the gloves on. He led Cody up the back stairs and in front of a set of double French doors. He glanced at Cody then rattled the door and lifted at the same time, he'd seen Marissa pop the door out of it's runners on several occasions when she was sneaking in past curfew, if she could do it with her body strength then it should be no problem for him. He thought that Julie would freak if she knew that she had weak security or such shoddy doors. He gave a hard push upwards and the door slid off its runners like planned. Cody looked impressed.

"Wait here while I go and sort the alarm."

Ryan shot across the room and down the hall as the first piercing bleeps of the alarm sounded. He punched in the code and the alarm fell silent. Cody switched on his torch and joined him.

" So you know your way around…where's the good stuff?"

Ryan nodded to the door behind him.

"That's the study…Jimmy keeps cash and bonds in there. There's some good silver too."

Cody appraised Ryan.

"I'm impressed…I think you and I are going to get along just fine."

Ryan turned on a small side lamp and Caleb's old office was illuminated in a soft light. Ryan was relieved to see that it was as he remembered and Julie hadn't turned it in to a spa room.

Cody set about opening the drawers; Ryan was in the process of removing some of the silver snuffboxes from the sideboard when he heard a noise. He bit his lip and turned.

Cody stood up and put his finger to his lips, he swiftly walked over to the lamp, and his hand was near when they both heard the static from a police radio from outside the door.

Ryan watched as Cody's eyes flashed with anger as the realization dawned.

"You little bastard…you set me up!"

Ryan recognized Cody's arm movement from earlier and swallowed hard.

Cody stood and pointed the gun.

"You're fucking dead…no one screws me and gets away with it."

Ryan shut his eyes and waited. He had no more pieces left on the table…this game was over.

**Tbc.**

**Once again read and review...please 'cause remember people, I'm needy. **


	12. Chapter 12

Not beta-ed so mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer- I own nothing. 

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 12

Ryan stared down the barrel of the gun as Cody clicked the safety off. He jumped as he heard a loud bang but he was still standing…that's when he heard the voices.

"Put the gun down Berman."

Ryan registered the cops in the room, the open door flung back against the oak cabinet behind it and as he stared at that gun all he could think was that Julie would have their balls if whoever had kicked the door open had put one scratch on that antique.

"Berman…don't even think it. If you pull that trigger it will be the last thing you do."

Ryan swallowed hard. He willed Cody to just pull the trigger, not that he was suicidal, He didn't fear death…it didn't mean anything to him.

He took a step forward and the look in Cody's eyes intensified.

"Lower your weapon _NOW_…Ryan… stay where you are..._DO_ not move."

Ryan could hear the desperation in the cop's voice and he wondered why. He could see the guns trained on Cody they weren't in any danger.

Then the cop said the strangest thing.

"Don't salt the kids game Cody…this isn't his fault…none of this is his fault. We know that…please understand that we know that, don't do anything stupid."

Ryan frowned as the words sunk in…why would they say that to Cody….

Ryan turned his head slightly and caught the cop's eye. The cop shook his head at him and mouthed something. Ryan couldn't tell what he was saying but he suddenly didn't feel so sure about anything anymore.

"You have until the count of three Berman to lower your weapon…one…two…"

Cody bared his teeth at Ryan and then slowly bent down and slid the gun across the floor.

Ryan watched as the room filled with cops and Cody was manhandled to the floor and cuffed.

Cody was yelling obscenities at him, calling him every name under the sun and he could only stand there wondering what the hell had just happened. The cop came over and Ryan automatically held his hands behind him.

"I'm sorry, I've got to do this kid…"

He snapped on the cuffs.

"That O.K…not too tight?"

Ryan felt drained, his brain not quite catching up with things, like why was this cop being so fucking nice?

"You scared the hell out of me there Ryan, Sandy would have killed me if I'd let anything happen to you."

Ryan's head jerked upwards.

"You don't remember me do you, we met about a year ago when your friend got busted buying coke. Sandy wanted to be here but regulations…He's waiting at the station for you and he told me to tell you not to say anything to anyone without him present."

Ryan bowed his head.

"Hey…you O.K. you're not going to pass out on me are you?"

Ryan shook his head. Why did Sandy want to represent him…he couldn't work it out…he remembered their conversation about screwing up so bad and how that it wouldn't change anything…but this went so beyond breaking into a file room.

"Let's get out of here kid."

Ryan let himself be led out of the house and into a cop car.

* * *

"They've got him. He's safe."

Sandy thought those were the best words he had ever uttered. He heard the sound of Kirsten tear up the other end.

"They're bringing him in for questioning now…it's going to be O.K…"

"Make sure you tell him we love him Sandy."

"Top of the list Kirsten…"

"So what happens next?"

Sandy sighed.

" If he cooperates and agrees to testify against Corso and Berman then we're going to go for a plea bargain and hopefully a suspended sentence."

"Hopefully! Sandy we _can't_ let him go to prison over this…"

"Kirsten I know but this is serious. He'll be charged with aiding and abetting, breaking and entering, he's also an accessory to whatever Corso and Berman did…"

Sandy didn't want to mention the beatings and rape…. this was bad enough as it was.

"But he didn't want to do it…it was blackmail."

Kirsten was crying now, Sandy knew she felt the guilt as much as she did over this…Ryan had been trying to protect them. Well now it was his turn.

"And that's why he'll probably just get a suspended sentence…this is an unusual case."

"I want him home, you'll post bail immediately?" Kirsten sounded so hopeful.

Sandy's heart sank. That was the problem.

It could be up to 72 hours before his arraignment and depending on how busy the holding cells were at the station he could well be transferred to prison to wait. Until then Sandy's hands were tied regarding bail.

One battle had ended…the other was about to begin. Ryan was a few months shy of eighteen now…that meant in all possibility he would be transferred to an adult prison to await arraignment. Sandy wanted him nowhere near a place like that.

* * *

Ryan was so fucking tired, he hadn't slept at all the night before and his brain was not functioning on all levels. The cops doing the questioning had been easy on him, Sandy obviously commanded respect here and it showed in their treatment of him. He'd been brought cigarettes and coffee…the good stuff from the deli across the road and not the machine down the corridor. They had been patient with him as he stumbled over his words and tried to explain himself. They made him feel at ease… as much as he could being questioned in a cop shop.

The internal affairs people had been a different matter…they tried to twist his words, they made him confused and unsure of what had happened. He could feel himself starting to loose it, he'd had enough now. His chest started to feel tight and he felt light headed…Sandy had stepped in quickly and tore a strip off them. Reminded them that Ryan had cooperated at every step of the way and had even set up the job at the Cooper's at great risk to himself to help bring this to an end…. they had backed down and left Ryan with Sandy.

"Hey kid…slow, even breaths." Sandy rubbed his back.

Ryan did what the nurse at the hospital had told him to do when he felt a panic attack coming on and thought of good times…happy times. He pictured himself with Seth on the Summer Breeze, the fresh clean air ruffling his hair as Seth talked about Summer. Ryan felt the attack recede. He looked at Sandy, this was the first time they had been alone since he'd been brought in.

"I'm sorry."

Ryan wished he could turn back the clock, anything not to have to put Sandy through this again…having Sandy clear up his messes was getting to be stale.

"Ryan you have nothing to be sorry for…"

"_Nothing._.. Sandy how can you say that…I'm up to my neck in it and I know that I'm not getting out of this…people got hurt because of me. People always get hurt because of me…"

Ryan felt his voice rise, he stood and paced the room.

"Whoa…whoa, calm down Ryan. Listen to me."

Sandy watched as Ryan sank into his chair and put his head on the table.

"Ryan look at me…"

Sandy waited.

"Ryan please look at me."

Ryan lifted his head.

"I can't begin to think how this must have been for you. I'm not going to lecture you on what you should or shouldn't have done because I'm not sure that if I were in the same position I wouldn't have done the same thing. Ryan…it is serious but think about it for a minute, what did you really do…so you passed on information about house layouts and alarm systems. Make no mistake that these burglaries _would_ have happened with or without your information. People would have been hurt if you hadn't been involved. _You _did not hurt these people Ryan …you did nothing to.." Sandy tried to make him understand.

Ryan snorted.

"Yeah…I did nothing Sandy, I did nothing…I should have done something sooner."

"You were protecting us Ryan, you protected Kirsten. You made sure she was safe. I've seen the files on Corso…he would have hurt her Ryan never doubt that. You stopped him."

"And now he's dead." Ryan shuddered at the memory.

"Don't shed one ounce of remorse for him …I'm sorry you had to witness something like that but he's not worth thinking about Ryan. Think about yourself for once…we'll get through this just like we always do."

Ryan sighed.

"Yeah…just like we always do…"

* * *

Ryan waited for guard to buzz the doors open. Of all the places they could have held him…just his luck.

Sandy promised that it would be just until the arraignment…48-maybe 72 hours tops.

Ryan kept his head down as he was led down the corridor.

He did his best not to make eye contact with anyone but it didn't stop the cries of 'Fresh meat', 'New fish' and the occasional catcall. This was going to be a whole lot worse than juvie. Sandy had looked like he'd been on the verge of breaking down when he told him the news about where they were transferring him, Ryan knew why. This was a whole different ball game.

This was karma; fate had a habit of laughing in his face.

Chino State penitentiary, the last time he'd been here was to collect Trey, this time he didn't have the luxury of walking away.

**Tbc**

Read and review...Go on punks, make my day!

So there it was...and you all thought it was winding down.


	13. Chapter 13

Here's the next chapter, I must just say that **storymom** is dictating the way this story goes...the meaner she is to me the worse things get for Ryan. If any of you have'nt yet read **A Chrismukkah Lesson** then do so, it's great. The not so sweet nurse in the last chapter of her story... can I just say that Nurse Amanda is really a sweet and kind person who was totally bent out of shape by a bitter and twisted woman who wanted payback for me kicking Ryan in the nads in this story...(and she didn't even let **me** hold 'it'...sorry Nurse Amanda hold it!) :0)

Beta-ed by melanie39.

Disclaimer- I own nothing.

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 13

Seth was still shell-shocked, he held onto Summers hand and squeezed.

"I can't believe you let him be sent to a place like that Dad…the stories Trey told…those prison movies aren't exaggerated, it…it's going to kill him. You've got to get him out."

Sandy looked at his wife helplessly as she twisted her wedding ring; he knew how hard this was on his family. Kirsten was barely holding on, she had upped her support group sessions to three times a week in a battle to stay off the drink. And Seth…no matter how many times he tried to explain the legal system to him could no understand that Sandy could do nothing.

"Seth… he only has another forty-eight hours to go then we can post bail at the arraignment. He'll get through this."

Sandy tried to put his sons mind at rest but Sandy knew full well what could happen in one hour in a place like that if your face didn't fit, let alone three days.

He'd been able to see Ryan that morning in his capacity as his lawyer and was shocked to see how the kid looked after just one day. He kept to himself the dark rings under Ryan's eyes that signalled another sleepless night, the fact that Ryan kept nervously looking around him even though they were alone and the flat tone to his voice that worried him to death.

He could say that it was only seventy-two hours to everyone like it was a stroll in the park but to Ryan; Sandy knew it was going to seem like a lifetime.

* * *

The first day they had allowed him to stay in his cell, they afforded him no such luxury on the second. His mind spun with all the rules thrown at him and he tried to remember all the unwritten ones that Trey had mentioned to him at their late night talks on what life had been like inside for his brother. There was a thin line to all of the do's and don'ts. One of the rules Trey had said for surviving your first few weeks inside was to never look someone directly in the eye if possible for fear of setting off some sort of challenge but the flip side was if you looked too kowtowed then that attracted the wrong kind of attention too.

He'd been elbowed and pushed but so far he had managed to stay away from any of the gangs that had formed inside the prison walls. He'd sat at a table at dinner and eaten in silence, when some of the inmates had tried to question him he'd just given them the look that said 'leave me alone'. Luckily the table he'd picked hadn't been a confrontational one and they had just grunted and ignored him, he knew that if he'd chosen a different table then it could have ended nastily but talking wasn't his strong point and he was as sure as hell not going to break a habit of a lifetime to appease a few curious cons. He'd made peace somewhat with his table after pushing his uneaten food to the centre and offered it to whoever wanted it.

He'd spent the two hours exercise time that evening walking by himself in the yard, head down smoking the pack of cigarettes that Sandy had brought in for him. That simple gesture had meant so much to Ryan, he knew how Sandy viewed smoking after his mothers brush with cancer and the fact that he'd brought them was a silent acknowledgement that he knew how hard this was going to be for Ryan without having to put it into words. It was another subtle shift in their relationship.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the guy doing sit ups on the ground and tripped over his legs, he managed to stop himself face planting and muttered an apology to the Latino on the ground. He moved on quickly missing the frown on the man's face.

* * *

Ryan hated the next part of the day, the communal showers. This was definitely a place not to meet any ones eyes, he'd never been ashamed of his body, showering after sports at school had never been a problem for him. Here it was different, taking a shower buck-naked with a group of guys, some of which were making comments in loud voices about past hazing's on 'new fish' was fucking terrifying. Ryan was relieved when they cleared out, laughing at his discomfort as they went. It was only as he was getting dressed that he realized just how quiet the shower block had become…his internal warning bell started to ring.

Ryan muttered a low 'shit' under his breath. He flung his towel over his shoulder and made for the exit.

The door opened and a group of three entered pushing him backwards. Ryan saw one stand by the door, his head outside obviously keeping watch.

Ryan stood his ground…this was such a fucking worn out cliché that for one moment he thought that this must surely be a wind up.

A guy who looked like a cross between Mike Tyson and The rock stepped in front of him.

"Where do you think your going Fish?"

The tone of the man's voice told him he was in deep shit.

"Look I don't want any trouble…"

Ryan tried to keep his voice even.

"Ohh you're in a whole lot of trouble …I can insure you of that. You might have heard of me, I'm Rafferty and I'm gonna introduce a whole world of pain your way boy."

The short stocky man next to Rafferty snorted excitedly.

Ryan had heard of the name and his heart sank…this was the animal that he'd been hearing about for the past twenty minutes.

Ryan tried to sum up his chances against this man mountain and his trained monkey…he realized he was as good as fucked…and all things were pointing to the literal sense of the word. He had never felt so scared in his life, he had put up with a lot in his life but this did not compare. He swallowed and tried to look as unfazed as he could, fear would just turn these guys on more. This wasn't about the sex it was about control.

"Fuck this is old…have you two been watching too much Oz or are you just a couple of ass bandits 'cause I gotta tell you I don't swing that way."

He tried to sound nonchalant about it…maybe he could brazen his way out but as he'd never studied the psychology of prison rapists he didn't know what track to go for. Anger was building as he looked from one to the other as they stood in front of him, one thing he knew was this was not going to happen without a fight.

"Are you calling us faggots?"

The men advanced.

Ryan balled his fists and started pounding flesh. Two on one was not a fair fight. Rafferty was an experienced fighter and for his size was more agile than Ryan would have thought and for the second time in as many weeks Ryan found himself on the floor getting a kicking. As he rolled and tucked to mineralize the damage Monkey boy pulled Rafferty away from him.

"Shit Raff, don't fuck him up too much or we're in the shit."

Ryan did his best to stand up, he wiped his hand across his face to stop the blood from a cut on his brow from running in his eye and tried to look like he was ready for round two. From the way his knuckles were hurting he'd gotten a few good punches in but it really was a pitifully unmatched fight…. but he'd fight to the death if he had to.

He had just made it onto his feet when Rafferty grabbed him and propelled him hard into the wall, his arms were painfully twisted behind his back and monkey boy held his cheek firmly against the cold tiles. Ryan did his best to try and twist away from them but a heavy weight pinned him as Rafferty slammed his own body against his. Rafferty's hands snaked between the wall and Ryan's body as he set about undoing Ryan's pants.

Ryan tried to use his hips as a weapon, thrusting them forward and doing his best to grind Rafferty's hands hard against the wall, Rafferty hooked his foot against Ryan's and pushed outwards causing Ryan's hips to loose purchase with the wall. Panic set in as he felt Rafferty's prick harden against him as he managed to finally unzip Ryan's pants.

Ryan used up the last of his reserves on one concerted effort, he pushed back his body from the wall and Monkey boy lost his hold on his head. Ryan brought his head back sharply and felt it connect with a dull crack against Rafferty's face. He used the fact that Rafferty was momentarily stunned and had stepped back, twisting his arms away. They engaged in a scuffle as they tried to get him pinned against the wall again.

"Shit…get over here Boyle." Rafferty yelled at the man standing guard by the door.

Ryan felt the third man join in the fray and knew that there was no way he was going to get out of this.

* * *

The men hurried along the corridor to the shower block. Taking note that the guards were mysteriously occupied elsewhere. They always turned a blind eye when a fish was being initiated…they never got involved.

"You sure it was him?"

"As sure as I can be I haven't seen him since he was thirteen but I'm pretty sure and Talbot heard Rafferty and his goons were up for a little fun tonight with the new arrival…look at this place, it's happening now."

"Fuck… fuck, if they've laid one finger on him I swear I'll kill the sons of bitches."

The four men pushed open the door to the showers.

The man stopped in his tracks at the sight before him, Boyle and Gorgo had the new kid pinned against the wall as Rafferty was sliding a condom down his engorged shaft. By the looks of the place the kid had put up one hell of a fight, slashes of red adorned the white tiles around the men.

Rafferty turned and snarled at them.

"This is a private party boys…I suggest you turn right around… this doesn't concern you."

The man watched as Rafferty turned back to the wall and grabbed the boys hips and angled himself, the kid struggled…cursing and twisting.

"Rafferty…you better step away right now or I swear I'll fucking kill you."

Rafferty turned his head.

"Like I said …what the hell has this got to do with you?"

The man stepped forward.

"It has everything to do with me when you're trying to fuck my brother."

**  
Tbc**

** There it is...read and review people cause I love ya all...big kiss and like hearing from you.  
**


	14. Chapter 14

Here is the next chapter...now where were we...(evil laugh).

**Beta-ed by the fab Melanie39**.

Disclaimer - I own nothing to do with The OC.

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 14

Ryan tried to get away from the two men that pinned him, but they still both held onto him tightly waiting for a sign from Rafferty. It had gone quiet and if Ryan could just have turned his head he knew he'd see a standoff as each group summed up their chances.

He heard Trey's voice again.

"You've messed up big time here Rafferty. I suggest you bow out gracefully and I'll let you leave here with your boys still intact… and you know I ain't talking about the two ass-holes you're with."

The threat to his manhood was obviously enough. The hands holding Ryan withdrew at a signal from the big man and he slid down the wall in a messy heap, every muscle crying out after being held tense for so long. He rolled on his side and pulled up his pants, shame and embarrassment flaming his face. He could hear flashes of the retorts that were flying around the room, they sounded strangely distant over the roaring in his ears. He knew that he needed to get up and stop looking like such a victim in front of Trey and whoever else in the room. He lay on his side willing his body to return to normal after its state of blind panic but it wasn't ready to comply with him yet.

He heard Rafferty say in a loud voice, 'it isn't over Atwood' as he stormed his way out of the room followed by his minions. Ryan pushed himself up on his hands and knees and watched as Trey slipped the knife he'd been holding back down the side of his sock and pulled his pant leg down over it.

Ryan slid his back against the tiles and sat. He breathed a sigh of relief as the tension in the room subsided. Trey rushed over and crouched down.

"Shit Ry, you O.K?"

Trey turned to his friend and barked at him to get some wet paper towels.

"Yeah, thanks…." Ryan muttered.

"They didn't…didn't..." Trey obviously couldn't put it into words. Ryan didn't _want_ it put into words.

Ryan squeezed his eyes shut and chose to ignore the question. He couldn't handle what had just happened so his brain went into denial mode.

The Latino came back holding wads of soggy paper and handed them to Trey. He moved his head sharply away from Trey's hand as his brother reached over to try to stem the flow of blood from the cut on his head. Ryan grabbed at the paper towel and pressed it firmly over his own eye.

"So, last I saw of you was about three months ago skipping town on a greyhound heading for Las Vegas." Ryan found it hard to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Trey glanced at the three people standing close by and glared. They got the message and moved away.

"Shit, is that why you're in here? I told the cops what really happened, I swear."

Ryan snorted.

"Eventually…I'm your brother, Trey. I mean, what the fuck? That was low even for our family."

Trey looked uncomfortable.

"Ry, I was ambushed, I'd just come out of a fucking coma and then that crazy bitch threw me for a loop. I thought I was protecting Marissa. I thought _you'd _understand."

Ryan removed the towel from his head and examined it. He threw it down and picked up a clean wad to replace it.

"It would have been nice to have a choice in the matter Trey. You know how hard it was for me to fit in. Then to have people think I lied and coerced my girlfriend into taking the rap. Thanks, that was a great feeling."

Trey shifted his legs.

"Look I'm sorry Bro. Really, I know I fucked up big time."

"So how come you're back here?"

Trey gave a laugh.

"I wasn't in any position to leave the hospital. I passed out about half an hour after I got on the bus and slid to the floor. I was still wearing my wrist tag from Hoag. The police were called and the rest is history. With the coke they found in my apartment and the gun possession, they got me for parole violation; I'm back to finish my sentence. Shit Ry. Are you now going to tell me why you're here?"

Ryan struggled to his feet and sat down on one of the slatted benches that lined the room.

He went for the abridged version, it was easier.

"Breaking and entering, aiding and abetting, my arraignment is tomorrow."

Trey frowned.

"What..._you_?"

Ryan shrugged.

"You do it?"

"Yeah."

Trey looked annoyed.

"Fuck little bro, why the hell did you choose now to dip into the Atwood gene pool? You had it sweet."

Ryan snorted at his brother again.

"This coming from a guy who tried to frame me for attempted murder."

Trey snapped his head up. He was surprised to see a wry smile of Ryan's face.

"Yeah, I guess we aren't exactly the Brady bunch. We better split before the guards come down on us. Come on."

Trey got up. He watched Ryan wrap his hand around his abdomen and do his best to heave himself upwards. Trey winced at his slow movements and held his hand out. His cellmate came over and looked at Ryan, then Trey.

"He's kind of fucked up. Do you think that maybe we need to take him to the H wing?"

Ryan stood up as straight as he could and shook his head.

"I'm good."

Trey gently cuffed his head and looked at Sanchez.

"Us Atwoods are made of tough stuff. Isn't that right Ryan?"

* * *

As Ryan lay on his bunk that night he wished that what had Trey said was right. But he wasn't tough. He never had been. 

He spent another night staring at the springs of the bunk above, listening to the snuffles and snorts of the guy who slept there. He was so damn tired but when he had briefly drifted to sleep he'd woken an hour later covered in a cold sweat, shaking and gagging. His dream had cruelly replayed every aspect of the attack but this time Rafferty had completed his task. Trey hadn't come to the rescue, Trey had stood there laughing at him.

Deep-seated fear grabbed at his insides. What if, with his record, they threw the book at him? No plea bargain, no suspended sentence like Sandy said, just years of existing, not living, inside a hell hole like this. He rested his hand gently on his bruised ribs and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

He remembered a conversation he'd had with Seth not long after this had all started. Seth had been overexcited about Ryan using the bat on Pete. He'd gone on and on about how that had been the stuff Kid Chino was made of, swinging his arms like he was going to make a home run. He'd used the word Superhero several times until Ryan had told him to shut up about it. Ryan wasn't a hero, super or otherwise. Heros weren't scared of anything and he'd spent most of his life afraid, he just hid it well.

* * *

Ryan shuffled his way into breakfast along with everyone else. As he passed one of the guards, a hand shot out and stopped him. 

"What the hell happened to you Atwood?"

Ryan heard the sniggers around him that told him that his encounter last night had been widely broadcast.

Ryan pulled his shoulders back and stared straight into the guard's eyes.

"Nothing Sir, I fell out of bed."

The guard gave a smirk, nodded and removed his arm.

Ryan felt the atmosphere change around him. The men that had been previously jostling and elbowing him now gave him space. He'd obviously passed the 'keep your mouth shut at all times' test. Someone even asked him if he was O.K.. Ryan nodded but kept his eyes ahead.

He got to the head of the line and had his tray filled with the inedible muck that passed for breakfast. He turned and was just in the process of looking for a table when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. The smell of sweat and carbolic soap filled his nose, the smell that would haunt him for a very long time. He turned to see Rafferty and his henchmen standing directly behind him. Ryan felt his gut clench, a mix of fear and humiliation washed over him.

"You and me have some unfinished business Atwood, don't think I've forgotten. Your brother can't be around all the time to baby-sit you."

Rafferty leered at him. Ryan was aware that the mess hall had gone quiet. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Trey rising from his seat.

He knew what he had to do. He let his temper overtake his good sense.

Ryan flung his tray to one side and as it clattered to the floor he grabbed Rafferty's balls and twisted hard.

"Next time I won't need my brother," he hissed, and then head butted Rafferty full force in the face.

Rafferty dropped like a stone. His goons jumped into action and pounded Ryan. The hall started shouting and stomping at the unexpected early morning floorshow, the next thing Ryan was aware of was a couple of guards joining the fray to break it up. Ryan was manhandled to the ground with his hands pinned behind his back then hauled to his feet and dragged out of there. He complied with the guards as he was shoved against the wall outside and cuffed roughly. Ryan had known it was stupid to retaliate but he'd had to do something, he couldn't let Rafferty see that he was weak.

"Bad temper obviously runs in the family. You just earned some time in the play pen Atwood." The guard pushed him along the corridor.

He was hustled unceremoniously in the cool down cell.

He sat on the bare concrete bench and let his breathing return to normal after his body's adrenalin rush. It had felt good to feel in control for that brief moment after weeks of being played like a puppet, but the feeling quickly dissipated and all he was left with was a strong, numbing depression.

Being handcuffed was never good for the psyche. It always brought home to him how he was another in a long line fulfilling the Atwood family prophecy. He looked around at the bare walls and lent back. He shut his eyes against the bright lights as a headache crept steadily into his skull. More than anything he just wanted to crawl into his bed in the pool house, sleep a dreamless sleep and wake up to find this was all over.

* * *

Sandy had been shocked at the state of Ryan, as he'd been led into the courtroom. His head bowed low, when he had looked up at Sandy, his face was a myriad of scrapes and bruises. Sandy now knew why Ryan had refused to see him for their pre-hearing meeting a few hours ago. Sandy had wanted to give him the good news that the state, after a lot of deliberation, had agreed for Ryan to turn witness for the prosecution in return for a suspended sentence. His record had caused some problems and Sandy a lot of anxiety but a surprising amount of people had been willing to give character references for him, the most glowing one coming from Dr Kim. They all said the same thing, that Ryan was trying hard to reform and and fit in. That he desparately wanted to make something of his life. Sandy went through the motions as this was just a formality now. He requested bail and it was granted. The look of relief on Ryan's face was palpable to him, at least that was one promise that Sandy had managed to keep. 

The ride back to Newport was not the journey he'd expected. Ryan had sat in the passenger seat like a zombie; he could barely get two words out of the kid about how he'd come by his injuries. As they neared the coast road it was clear to Sandy that Ryan was in no fit state to face the boisterous welcome home that Seth had planned for him.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, a gathering to let Ryan know that pretty much everyone was rooting for him, to let him know that no one really held him accountable after the true facts had come out. O.K, there was a proportion of people who wanted him hung out to dry but on the whole people had been horrified that he'd been used and blackmailed in the way he'd been.

Sandy pulled over to the side of the road. Ryan looked at him.

"Kid, you can put it behind you now. You're out of that place now and you are _never_ going back if I can help it."

Sandy watched as Ryan's face crumpled.

"Hey..."

Ryan grasped for the door handle and practically fell out of the car in his haste to get out.

Sandy opened his own door and hurried round to where Ryan stood. Sandy decided gave him some space for a while. He watched as the boy's shoulders shook as he tried to gain control of his emotions.

Sandy felt useless so he went to put his arm around him. Ryan stood back and wrapped his arms around himself.

He tilted his head down and just lifted his eyes up to Sandy, making himself look like the Bragolin 'Crying Boy' painting he remembered that his grandmother had had hanging on the living room wall when he was teen.

"I'm O.K Sandy, I just need to get my head around all this." Ryan eventually admitted in a anguished tone.

Sandy nodded.

He'd give the kid a pass for now but he wasn't stupid. If this was Ryan feeling O.K then he dreaded to see what he was like when he wasn't.

Sandy waited until Ryan got back in the car. He got his cell out and dialed home. Now was not the time for festivities. It wasn't like he'd thought that Ryan would be happy, he'd been through a lot...Sandy just hadn't expected him to be so fragile.

**TBC**

**GASP...No cliffhanger!**

**Thanks for all the reviews people...keep up the good work. :o)**


	15. Chapter 15

Thanks to melanie39 for beta-ing.

Disclaimer- I own nothing!

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 15

Ryan woke with a start. The bright California sun poured in through the blinds signalling that the sun was high in the sky and the hour late. He rubbed his hand over his face as the dream that had awoken him receded back into the recesses of his mind. He grabbed his watch from the nightstand and checked the time…two-thirty.

He slumped back into the warm mattress and waited for the fog of too much sleep to lift. The thought of spending all day in bed was tempting but he could already picture the scene inside the house. Seth probably had to be physically retrained by the elder Cohens from coming in here all morning and Sandy and Kirsten were probably already starting on operation 'get Ryan to open up' after last night's episode.

Sandy and he had arrived home to a quiet house and for that Ryan was thankful. He had dreaded the thought of having to face 'people'. He'd been hugged by Kirsten until he couldn't breathe and she'd made his shirt wet on the shoulder. Seth had stood shuffling his feet as if he was unsure of what to do, so Ryan had held his knuckles out for the teenage male equivalent of a hug.

After the bonding session Ryan was aware that everyone was walking on eggshells around him, not knowing quite what to say. Instead they babbled about what they were going to order from the Thai menu. He hadn't missed the relief on their faces when he had piped up that this evening called for huge greasy pizzas and some double chocolate ice-cream. He wasn't hungry but he wanted more than anything to break the strange atmosphere that had settled in the kitchen. And if they noticed that his voice was a little too loud and a little too forced they didn't say anything.

They had all sat in the Den eating and drinking soda while Seth regaled him with tales of what had gone on at school and Casa Cohen in the past few days. Ryan had forced himself to smile and not think of what had happened less than twenty-four hours ago. He laughed with the others when Sandy came round the back of the sofa without him noticing and had boisterously patted him on the shoulder causing him to knock his drink flying. He acted as if it was just his natural clumsiness at play whilst his heart had thumped and his palms sweated. He'd eaten two large slices of pizza even though just the look of the oozing cheese had made his stomach rebel. He had taken a call from Marissa and listened for any slight change in her tone as she spoke. She seemed to be acting the same towards him but he couldn't be sure. One thing he _did_ know was that he had managed to go even further down in Julie's estimations. He was now just a few notches above Satan himself and she'd been spreading poison all around town about him. That was until Kirsten had stormed over to her house and put her foot down. Sandy had said that he didn't know what his wife had said to Julie but shortly afterwards the woman had suddenly stopped bad mouthing Ryan at every opportunity.

When Marissa had asked to come over he'd cited the fact that the Cohens just wanted a quiet night in as an avoidance tactic to stop her. He couldn't face any more tears and he knew that Marissa would have plenty.

They had all moved into the kitchen for coffee and ice-cream and talk of Summer's latest fad, kickboxing. Ryan had silently gathered the empty pizza boxes and taken them out to the trash.

He'd opened the lid of the trash can and just as he was going to throw them in he caught sight of the contents. He pulled out the large crumpled 'welcome home' banner, the sad burst balloons, and bunting. Evidence of just one more thing he'd screwed up for the Cohens. The pizza and ice cream churned in his stomach and he threw the boxes on top of the party decorations. He ran full pelt to the pool house, knelt in front of the toilet and retched. He stayed there until he was sure his gut had finally purged all its contents, then crawled into bed. The lack of sleep over the past week had eventually caught up with him and culminated in bone achingly tiredness that he couldn't fight anymore.

If any of the Cohens had come in to check on him he couldn't remember, but now he was awake he was sure that something would be said about his sudden and abrupt disappearance last night. With a sigh he walked over and got some clean clothes then stepped into the bathroom. The confrontation that he knew would happen would have to wait a while longer. He turned the shower on full and stepped in.

He let the water iron out the creases in his aching muscles and when he dried off, he got a large stretchy bandage out of the medicine cabinet and wrapped it around his ribs, securing the end firmly with the Velcro strip. The last time he'd used the bandage was after the incident with Trey. He wasn't sure why he'd kept the fact that he'd met his brother inside from Sandy. He wasn't sure of so many things at the moment. He got dressed and sat down on the end of his bed… just a while longer then he'd go in.

* * *

Seth held onto Captain Oats. He'd tried to ask for some advice from his plastic equine friend but Oats was strangely silent on the subject of how to act around a recently incarcerated friend.

His dad had said that they needed to give Ryan a bit of time and space but Seth knew that would only lead to hereto-unprecedented levels of brooding and self-doubt. Seth could see last night that Ryan was acting. The smiles were false and the breezy attitude was hiding the fact that he wanted to be a million miles away from them at the moment.

Well for once he knew better than his father. In his book the last thing Ryan needed was more space to grow further apart from them. People thought he was just stupid and insensitive to Ryan's feelings but he knew how to play the game around him, he was the master.

If you acted like things were normal around Ryan, be it just after his mom had left or when Theresa had lost the baby, then you pulled Ryan back in close. If you let him dwell too much on his problems then, and Seth had seen it time and time again, Ryan drifted far away into the distance like a helium balloon that you'd carelessly let go. He'd float further and further away until you had to stretch to catch the string and it always scared the shit out of Seth that one day they wouldn't be able to jump high enough. What would happen when they couldn't reach that string anymore?

* * *

Julie had always hated the boy, he reminded her of where she had come from. He also reminded her that to get ahead in life you didn't have to take the selfish self-serving path to get there. Julie also didn't want to acknowledge that the generally good people that she secretly admired all saw Ryan for who he was, they all liked him and admired his spirit. It was only the most spiteful embittered people like herself, Caleb and the shallowest of Newport's finest that still thought of him as a street thug.

She hated the fact that he could reach her daughter in a way that she had never been able to do. Even Luke had become his friend. Luke, who had wanted nothing more than to pound him into the ground, had been able to see Ryan for what he was.

Julie had steadfastly refused to jump on the Ryan love bandwagon. She couldn't let him in and she knew why. He could read her like a book and that scared her. He looked at her as though he knew that she was a fraud. He had always failed to be intimidated by her and had stood up to her on too many occasions for her liking. It was like he knew that her brittle exterior was just a façade to hide a million insecurities.

She enjoyed playing the victim over the burglary at her house; she had enjoyed even more demonising Ryan at every opportunity. That was until Kirsten had turned up one day and shouted at her. Kirsten Cohen had shown her claws like a lioness protecting her cub. She could have handled that. What she couldn't handle was Kirsten breaking down in front of her and telling her the real details of the night the Cohen residence had been targeted, the raw pain as she had described the near rape…and how at that moment she had selfishly wanted to die. That there was no way that she would be able to cope with that happening to her.

Then Ryan had shown up and given her life back, and in the process the kid had risked his own skin to make sure she was safe. Kirsten had told her that she had run that night and left Ryan to face God knows what and because of that Ryan was being punished now. Kirsten told her of the leverage that they had used on him to get him to comply, that only the ongoing threat to her and her family had made Ryan do the things he had.

Julie had been shocked. She had not bothered to think about the cause behind Ryan's sudden shift back into petty crime. Having Kirsten spell it out to her in all its grim glory made her ashamed for the way she'd lambasted Ryan to everyone.

But the thing that made her stop the call for Ryan's lynching was the stone cold realization that if the tables had been shifted that night and it had been the Cooper Nichol's house that had been targeted, then Ryan, if he had been around, would have protected her and Marissa in the same manner. She was sure of that. No matter how much of a bitch she was to him. That put things into perspective, it also made her feel guilty and Julie Cooper-Nichol did not feel guilt.

* * *

Sandy and Kirsten sat in the kitchen and waited for any sign of movement from the pool house. The bacon that Sandy had cooked hours ago for breakfast lay uneaten and congealing on the counter top. Worry was etched on both their faces. This had been the longest morning. Waiting for Ryan to emerge was pure torture. They agreed that they would give him some time but neither of them had realized how difficult it would be. One thing they knew with Ryan was not to ambush him. If you did that then he would retreat, but if you gave him too much space would you miss it if the kid were reaching out? Would he see their space giving as just lack of interest on their part? Ryan was so complex he really should have come with his own manual, 'Ryan for Dummies' because sometimes they were at a loss as to how to tread around him when things happened to him that they had no real comprehension of.

Sandy got up abruptly.

"I've had enough of this, I'm going to check on him."

He uttered this just as Seth barrelled into the room and said almost the exact same words.

It would have been funny in a different situation. Kirsten was just about to open her mouth to say that if both of them went then it _would_ seem like an ambush when the door opened and Ryan strode in.

"Morning…or should I say afternoon? Sorry I crashed on you last night. I made the mistake of going into my room to change and the next thing I know it's eighteen hours later! I can't believe I slept so long, I guess I missed my bed. So what's for breakfast, I'm starving?"

Ryan grinned and snatched up a piece of bacon and chewed.

"I've got a craving for a large plate of eggs…. anyone else want some?"

Ryan set about getting the eggs out of the fridge. Normal, he just wanted things to get back to normal. He wanted them to stop looking at him like 'that'.

If he had looked behind him he'd have seen that they weren't fooled in the slightest and one person was definitely not buying the happy, carefree front he was displaying. That person frowned and swore that they would be there for him this time. They owed him and this time they would make sure that they would deliver.

**TBC**

Keep the reviews coming...I'm still needy.


	16. Chapter 16

Beta - melanie39

Disclaimer - I own nothing.

Read and review people.

**The Accidental Hero**

_Chapter 16._

Ryan rang the doorbell and waited. He did not want to be here but it had to be done.

"Ryan, you have a nerve showing up here!" Julie stood, her arms folded.

"Look...I'm sorry, I'm sorry for what happened here and I know that you hate me, I get that. I just wanted to apologize. So I'm sorry." He turned to walk away.

"Ryan…Marissa is upstairs."

Ryan swung round.

"Don't think you've won anything…let me tell you that I'm not happy about you seeing my daughter but then you know that already don't you. We've tried stopping this relationship before and it doesn't work so I'm not even going to try, but if you ever hurt her then it's going to take more than Kirsten speaking up for you to get you out of the mess I'll make for you. And believe me your name will be mud, no matter how many fans you have here in Newport."

Julie turned on her heels and strutted away.

Ryan tapped on Marissa's door and then opened it. God knows what Kirsten had said to Julie. He'd fully expected never to set foot in the Cooper-Nichol residence ever again.

"Hey."

"Ryan!" Marissa launched herself at him and hugged him tightly; He winced as his bruised ribs protested.

"My God, what happened to you?" She ran her fingers down his face.

It was funny that he didn't even remember that his face resembled ground chuck at the moment, the punches he could cope with.

"Fight…you know." He shrugged.

"When you were in …." Her voice trailed off and she looked embarrassed.

Ryan sighed.

"You can say it…'prison'. I was there, it happened."

"I'm sorry."

Ryan walked over to the window and looked out at the spectacular vista.

"Look I'll understand if you want to cool it with me, after what I did …"

"Stop it Ryan. I won't let you push me away. I know what happened. You did nothing wrong. It's going to be alright."

Ryan hugged her again. He wished he could believe that.

* * *

Kirsten was determined that Ryan would not shy away from them anymore. He was part of this family and he would get treated like he was a Cohen born and bred. And if that meant smothering him at times then so be it. She hadn't always shown him that she was there for him and that pained her but she had difficulty putting the boy Sandy brought home and Ryan into the same box. Then she had been just like her father and pigeon holed him as a felon not to be trusted. It hadn't taken long for her to change her mind but to Ryan it had been long enough and he'd put the barriers up. Those barriers still remained today. He hid them well but she knew they were there and her comment the day of the intervention had cemented the bricks in place. Oh she knew that he cared for her but he always held back with her. They could both be having the best time in the world together and she'd think that finally he had relaxed around her and then she'd see a chink in his amour and that slight apprehensive edge appear and she was back to square one. She was not going to let that happen this time. She was going to make sure of that.

It was hard going when Ryan was acting as chipper as Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. That was more worrying than the usual brooding. The fake jovialness he had displayed over the past few days was just not Ryan but how could you broach the subject that someone was being too cheerful?

When Seth had bitten the bullet and made a comment to this effect, Ryan had looked at him blankly and said of course he was happy, he was glad to be home. That sentiment would have been more believable had they not all seen him in moments of deep thought looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. And had they not all seen him pacing the floor of the pool house late at night on too many occasions. This had been so hard on him and no matter how many times they told him he didn't need to put on the brave face for their benefit, he continued to build the wall high.

When the mortar finally cracked Kirsten was determined that she would be there to pick up the pieces…they all would.

* * *

"So we need to step up 'Operation Atwood' people, 'cause I don't know if you've noticed but he's been abducted by the Stepford Wives."

Summer, Marissa and Seth were having a crisis meeting in Seth's room. Ryan had retreated a few minutes earlier to finish an assignment, something they noticed he'd done a lot the past few days when they were together.

Summer and Marissa both looked at each other.

"Seth, this is serious. Don't joke about it." Marissa spoke softly.

"I'm being deadly serious. You think I want Ryan like this? He won't speak to us when we all know that he's shitting himself about having to testify against those bastards. He should be relieved that those cops have been arrested and confirmed his story but no, he's still at full stealth brood mode and he thinks we won't notice. Something is up big style. He's so damn nervous all the time and that, twinned with the breezy, smiley attitude he's got going is freaking me out."

Summer nodded.

"So what are we going to do?"

"Make sure he's occupied at all times. He's spending way too much time supposedly working on his school work and we all know that the pool house is bad for the brooding."

Seth tapped his fingers on his chin.

"Marissa, you come in to play here. You have to distract him with your womanly wiles at all times. If he's, ya know, then he's not thinking about the bad stuff."

"Seth!" Marissa turned bright red.

"That's a good plan Cohen except that Chino is totally turning it down at the moment."

"God Summer, I told you that in confidence!" Marissa shot a mortified look at her friend.

Seth frowned. He joked to cover up how worried he was. Call it a defense mechanism but this new piece of information bumped up Ryan's latest depression from dark pink to a flashing red warning in Seth's color coded panic chart.

"Shit this is way bad… 'cause I can tell you a teenage boy turning down sex is never a good thing… and Ryan turning down sex is beyond bad. Seriously this confirms our suspicions people. Things are rotten in the State of Atwood but what the hell are we going to do about it?"

"We've just got to be patient with him. Maybe when this is all over he'll relax and be Ryan again." Marissa reflected.

"I hope so because I'm getting confused at the many faces of Ryan Atwood and I think my parents are this close to getting him psych analyzed to see if he has a multiple personality disorder."

Seth slumped down on his bed. He wished he was joking about that but his parents were at the end of their tether trying to deal with Ryan's recent mood swings.

* * *

Ryan looked over at the main house to check that the coast was clear, then walked around the side of the pool house and got his smokes out. As much as he appreciated what Seth, Summer and Marissa were trying to do, it was a bit much at times. They didn't give him a minute's peace. He knew they were concerned but he felt like he was suffocating under the weight of everyone's expectations of how he should be acting. And knowing that he could never ever, ever tell them what was preying on his mind was hard.

The thing is he didn't know how he felt. He'd be fine one minute then from nowhere vivid images of getting slammed against that wall would flood his brain. He'd be watching a program on the TV and a word or phrase would trigger a flashback that would make him panic and bolt. He knew he was being stupid. Nothing had happened and only his pride was hurt, or at least that's what he told himself. He shuddered at the thought of how close it had been…if Trey had arrived five minutes later, what then?

Ryan started to sweat; he lit a cigarette and tried to focus on something else.

Jesus, he really needed to get a grip on himself. Kirsten wasn't acting like this and she'd been through a hell of a lot worse experience than him. He was a man and fuck it, he should start acting like one and not a frightened little girl.

He shut his eyes and swallowed as Rafferty's face mocked him from his subconscious. Focus, focus, he told himself as he did the exercises that Nurse Sandie had taught him.

He visualized The Summer Breeze and inhaled the imaginary salty air.

_The boat suddenly disappeared and he was in Pete's dank faded apartment watching as Cody pulled the trigger…._

Focus…. he was back on the calm water…

_Blood sprayed… "Still want to be my partner?"_

No, not here, not now please… hold it together.

_The smell of bleach and body odor, arms pinning him… acrid breath on his face… cold tiles on his thighs… _

Focus.

_Pushing him…laughing...rough hands on his hips_.

Focus.

_A hand grabbing at his shoulder._

He turned and lashed out.

_His fist connected with Rafferty's face with a sickening crack._

He blinked several times as his vision slowly cleared.

He saw Marissa splayed on the ground, her eyes wide with shock and fear as she held onto the side of her face.

**Tbc.  
**

Thanks for the reviews people...you still make my day. **  
**


	17. Chapter 17

Beta-ed by Melanie39.

Disclaimer- I own nothing, don't sue me.

****

**The Accidental Hero **

Chapter 17

Ryan watched as Marissa slowly got to her feet. He wanted to reach out but didn't trust himself at the moment. He heard Seth's urgent voice, then Summer, Kirsten, Sandy. They all seemed to be talking at once but he could only stare at the ugly red swelling on Marissa's face. Flashes of conversation penetrated through the fog.

_"What happened?" _

"He didn't mean it."

"He hit you?"

"What!"

"Chino…what the hell happened…you punched her?"

"He didn't mean it…I startled him."

"We need to get ice on that…Sandy take Marissa into the kitchen."

"Ryan…Ryan?"

"What's the matter with him?"

Ryan flinched as Seth took his arm and shook him.

"Seth, take Summer inside now."

Ryan swallowed hard. This was bad…this was so bad.

"Ryan, come with me. It's O.K sweetie. Just come with me."

Ryan let Kirsten lead him around to the front of the house.

"Get in…let's get away from here."

Ryan nodded and opened the car door. He buckled up and sat impassively as Kirsten drove. He barely registered where they were going. His mind held a jumble of possibilities. When they pulled up outside the Newport Group offices he frowned; this had not been one of them.

* * *

Kirsten sat him down in her office and set about brewing some coffee. As she put the filter paper in the percolator she looked round at Ryan as he sat on one of the sofas. He looked in shock. He stared down at the floor with a blank expression on his face and his hands hung loosely on his lap. The Ryan she knew was somehow always tense and aware of his surroundings but this Ryan looked like a whipped dog.

Her cell phone rang and she answered quickly. Sandy enquired where they were; she told him and quietly asked how Marissa was. She kept the conversation brief, eyeing Ryan as she spoke. She shut the phone and waited for the coffee to brew. She filled two mugs and sat down opposite him. She held his cup out and had to almost force it into his hands when he just stared blankly at it. He eventually took the mug, cupping the steaming liquid with both his hands and gazed into the steam as if he'd find life's answers there.

"What happened back there Ryan? Because I know you and I know you wouldn't hurt Marissa intentionally."

Her words fell into the silence.

"Ryan?"

After an age he looked away from his cup and into her eyes.

"How are you? I mean after what Corso did. How come you seem so together after what happened?"

His voice was soft but Kirsten heard the genuine plea in his question.

Kirsten took a deep breath and stared talking.

"Together…I'm not sure I am really Ryan but the people at Suriak are helping me come to terms with it and I'm taking sleeping tablets at night. Things are getting better, I can deal with it more now. I still see that man's face but it's not getting to me as much as it did. Sandy helps a lot too. Some nights he just holds me when things get bad. I don't know what I'd do without him."

Talking about it to Ryan wasn't as bad as she thought.

"I knew that nothing I could do was going to stop it from happening. I was so scared, so, so scared…I'd worked so hard to get my life back on track and then this one person came along and threatened to undo everything I'd achieved. I'm an alcoholic Ryan and that is always going to be the case. I worked so hard to come to terms with that but as that man was attacking me, all I could think about was how I was going to have a drink the first moment I could. Then you showed up. I don't think I've ever been so relieved to see someone in my life, and it's not the first time you've defended me is it?" she added thoughtfully.

Kirsten took a sip of her coffee.

"I can never thank you enough for what you did. I feel so guilty that I left you on your own that night. I owe you so much and that's why I can't bear to see you like this. Ryan, I can see that you're hurting and you won't let us help. You never let us help. How do you think that makes us feel to know that you don't trust us enough to let us in?"

Ryan became interested in his cup again.

"I know that I haven't always been there for you, I admit that I didn't want you in our house at first and I'm so ashamed of that but I want to be here for you now. And it's not out of gratitude or pity, it's because I love you. I love you like a son. For me to admit that finally means a lot and I wish I'd said it sooner. You can't choose your family but we chose to have you become part of ours because we wanted it, not because we had to. It's a two-way thing Ryan and you have got to stop pushing us away when you need help…. please"

Ryan seemed to be weighing her words in his head; she could see the subtle changes in his face as he processed her words. After an agonizing length of time he spoke.

"I was there when Cody shot Corso. It was something I can't describe Kirsten. Watching that was sickening but I wanted him dead because of what he did to you."

Ryan put his cup down.

"I wished that I had asked for help sooner, then maybe things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand, but I was so worried that they were going to do what they threatened to you. I thought I could cope with the shit that they threw at me, I thought it was manageable. I wasn't sleeping and I guess my judgment was off."

Ryan paused and gave a shaky sigh.

"When I was arrested I hoped it would be all over but then I found myself back inside."

Ryan started to look agitated and he fell silent again. Kirsten thought that she'd lost the fragile connection they had going as he got up and stood with his back to her, looking out of the window. It seemed like an age again before he spoke. It was always the same with Ryan; he'd give a little then hold back.

"Being inside is a nightmare Kirsten. You're watched all the time, and if it's not the guards then it's the other inmates. You can't get away from it and you have to do your best just to blend in because if you don't then you're in deep shit. I kept my head down, I didn't want any trouble…I was only there for a few days and I didn't want to jeopardize anything. You see Kirsten, inside there's a hierarchical system. There are gangs, groups…They are the ones really in charge and unless you're a known or you gain their respect you're pretty much their fodder. They'll beat the hell out of you for just looking at them a second too long. It's not necessarily that they want to or that you did anything wrong, it's just that to stay at the top of the food chain then you've got to keep proving that you're worthy to be there. If they lose that edge then there will always be someone to step into their shoes. That's why the violence is there and that's why it will always be there."

Kirsten felt uneasy as Ryan talked. She had seen a brief glimpse of the raw emotions that day in juvenile hall. She knew adult prison would be worse but hearing it from Ryan's lips it made it real.

"But there are people inside that aren't just surviving like most of the gangs. They like the power, they want control and they will do anything to get it. Fear is the main power they have. If they gain a reputation big enough then they pretty much rule the joint."

Ryan rested his forehead against the glass. Kirsten could see he was wrestling with himself. He didn't want to talk, she knew that but he also seemed to be trying to reach out. He had fallen silent again.

"Ryan, please…whatever you say I'll understand. You can't keep doing this to yourself. I've been honest with you, I've just told you things that even Sandy didn't know…be honest with me. Please."

"I'm sorry it just..." His words trailed off.

"It's not easy, I know but take it easy, there's no hurry."

Ryan went quiet again. Kirsten held her breath and wondered if he would ever open up to her, she felt like a failure.

He eventually stared speaking again, his voice faltering occasionally.

"It…it didn't take me long to find out that the one person to avoid at all cost was a guy called Rafferty, he had his own special brand of intimidation that entailed the ultimate in control and caused the maximum fear in people, especially in the new intake. You see, the theory is get your message across as soon as possible as to who is in charge and nip any visions of grandeur before they even start."

The way he was speaking in flat monotone, it was like he had fazed her out, like he was speaking to himself. Kirsten knew that this wasn't easy for him and if that helped him then so be it; she ignored her phone vibrating in her pocket and listened.

"I don't know what I did to get on his radar but I did…and the old prison clichés are true Kirsten."

Ryan gave a bitter laugh. Kirsten shut her eyes and hoped that this wasn't going where she thought it was, the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach intensifying. She could hear him swallow a few times.

"Go on." She said softly.

"I… God…"

His voice changed as he tried to keep himself from breaking down. Kirsten sensed that the barriers were crumbling as he fought to keep his emotions in check.

"I…I got cornered in the shower block. Everyone else cleared out, it was like they all knew what was going to happen and I was the last to find out."

Ryan rested his head on the glass again.

"Not being able to do anything is the worst, just as you said Kirsten. Feeling weak and useless. I…I had two people pinning me down…I mean I tried to fight…I tried so hard but I couldn't do anything to stop it. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life and I've been in some situations in my time. I felt disgusted with myself that I was letting this happen. As a man you just think that no matter what you would be able to stop something like that from happening but I couldn't…I couldn't do anything. I _couldn't_ stop it."

"God Ryan no…" Kirsten couldn't stop the exclamation.

"I couldn't believe that I was in that situation, I just didn't have any fight left. I thought I was going to pass out and then I heard Trey's voice…I thought it was just a weird fucking trip I was having… that I was imagining Trey was there stepping in like he used to when we were kids but he _was_ there as large as life. Apparently a friend of his from way back thought he recognized me and told him that I might be inside…seems that Trey is one of the top dogs there now. He stopped it…threatened to cut Rafferty's balls off, violence is the only thing that people like that respond to Thank God."

Ryan turned around and put his hands deep in his pockets. Kirsten could see the conflict raging in his eyes.

"Nothing happened, so _why_ do I feel like this? Why do I still feel violated? Why can't I just let it go Kirsten? I keep having flashbacks and they're so real, I can't always control them but I try. I thought I was hitting Rafferty tonight but when I opened my eyes Marissa was on the floor…I punched Marissa! I'm no better than the men I hated growing up…I hit my girlfriend in the face."

He gave another bitter laugh.

"It's ironic that my brother who tried to rape my girlfriend saved me from the same thing and then I fucking hit her because I can't control myself. Things were supposed to be better here but they're more fucked up than in Chino."

Kirsten leaped up and crossed the room in a few strides. She wrapped her arms around him.

"God Ryan, why didn't you tell us?"

"How could I? It's not something I wanted anyone to know about. I should have been able to stop it." He said in an anguished tone.

"Why…because you're a man? I'd like to see anyone try and fight off three grown men and come out unscathed."

Kirsten stepped back.

"Ryan, you saw me that night. You helped me get decent, you pulled down my nightdress. You saw me how I never wanted you to see me. I felt so embarrassed but not once have you made me feel uncomfortable, not once have you made me feel ashamed. Why would you think I'd act any differently towards you? You could have come to me with this and I would have understood what you were going through. I would have understood that you feel ashamed, that you felt that it was somehow your fault and that somehow you might have encouraged it because that's how I felt but you didn't do anything wrong. Suriak taught me that it's natural to feel like that but it's wrong too. We both did nothing wrong and we have got to let go. I've accepted that and you have to but you've got to realize that you can't do this alone. When was the last time you slept properly?"

Ryan shrugged, the first night he was home he'd slept but since then not so much.

"You need sleep, you're so strung out. We can all see it. That isn't helping you think clearly. We're going to go home and you are going to take one of my tablets…you're going straight to sleep and then we are going to figure out how we are going to sort this out because we_ will_ sort this out. That's what we are here for, all of us. Have you got that now Ryan?"

He looked down at his shoes and nodded.

"Thank you."

"No thanks needed, we're in this together, all of us."

She put her arm around him and was pleased when she felt his arm wrap around her waist. She felt like she had won half the battle. The next would be how to deal with Julie.

* * *

Ryan continued talking, He hadn't wanted to, he hadn't expected it to happen but once he'd started it was like the flood gates had opened. He knew that he couldn't hide from this anymore, he'd punched his girlfriend, he wasn't manageing anything by himself. The neutral, almost sterile setting of the office had made it easier somehow. And he didn't quite know what had happened between him and Kirsten but it felt like such a relief not to have to shoulder everything himself. He had always felt uncomfortable around her before. He knew that if anyone held sway in the Cohen household it was Kirsten and he always felt like he was walking on eggshells around her because he knew that ultimately she would be the one to ask him to leave. Men used their fists but women were the ones that really hurt you. He found himself really trusting Kirsten for the first time ever, as he looked into her eyes he saw that she really did care…she didn't appear to be giving the empty promises that his mom had always made. She really did seem to want to be there for him.

They both talked and it felt good not to be treated like a kid as Kirsten shared things from her past with him. Kirsten Cohen was telling the fuck up from Chino personal things, stuff about Caleb and her mom. She actually trusted him and that made it easier for him to dump some of the baggage that he'd been carrying. He still didn't feel comfortable talking about himself but he knew that this wasn't easy for her either and that helped.

They had formed a support group with only two members but it worked.

For the first time in weeks…if not years he felt like there was light at the end of the tunnel.

* * *

Kirsten sat at the head of the table. She knew everyone looked at her expectantly wondering why she had called this meeting of sorts and why Ryan had been so closely guarded by her since they had arrived home. They had watched her shepherd him into the pool house, ten minutes later she had come out, told everyone to leave him alone on pain of death then disappeared again. She knew they weren't happy with her right now.

She politely offered everyone juice.

"Mom, enough with the hostess stuff. What the hell is going on with Ryan?" Seth was subdued.

Kirsten calmly turned to Marissa and eyed the angry bruise on her cheek.

"Are you O.K Sweetie? That looks nasty."

Marissa nodded.

"How is he?"

"That's why we're here. He wanted me to explain a few things to you. He doesn't want to do it himself but has given me permission to do so as part of a new open policy we have going. This family has had enough secrets and from now on we are all going to be more open with each other. And that means Ryan as well."

"Should I even be here then Mrs. Cohen?"

"Yes Summer, Ryan wanted you here as you're Seth's girlfriend and Marissa's friend…and Marissa is here because what I have to say involves her."

Sandy pulled his chair in close and smiled at Summer.

"So come on Mom…what's going on? Why did Ryan go all Ali on Marissa?"

Kirsten bit her lip.

"What I say here goes no further…Ryan wants your word on this."

Everyone nodded.

"I can't dress this up in any way so I'm just going to be to the point. When Ryan was in prison he was attacked by some of the inmates…they tried to rape him."

There was a collective gasp from the table.

"Jesus." Summer held Seth's hand.

Seth looked sick.

"No." Marissa just looked stunned.

Sandy was silent. Kirsten could see that his brain was working at a thousand miles an hour as he clenched his jaw and was already figuring out who would pay for this.

"It also seems that his brother is back inside to finish his sentence and thank God for that, because Trey stepped in and stopped it from going too far. But that's not really the point. Ryan's not in a good place at the moment. Speaking from my own experience, and I'm sure Marissa would agree, something like this completely messes with your head. Ryan hasn't been sleeping, and on top of all the stress of the past few weeks and knowing he has to testify, he's not handling it well. He's been having vivid flashbacks and unfortunately Marissa you caught the tail end of one. He wasn't lashing out at you and he's beside himself that he did."

Kirsten looked around the table and was so proud of how everyone was taking the news. All she saw was concern for Ryan and part of her wished that he were here so he could witness that for himself but she understood why he hadn't wanted to be here for something so personal.

"Now what I'm going to say you're not going to like Marissa, but Ryan thinks it's for the best and so do I. He thinks that he shouldn't see you until after the trial. He wouldn't forgive himself if anything else were to happen and he needs to sort himself out. He's not pushing you away, it's just, and I'm using his words now, 'just until he can be sure that he can keep a handle on himself.' He needs you to understand and that's why he wanted Summer here because you need her to help you understand that this is for the best."

Marissa looked upset.

"But I know he didn't mean to hurt me and it won't happen again."

"Ryan can't be sure of that right now. He needs time to get his head around some of the things that have happened. Sweetie he only wants a few weeks that's all. You've both been through so much and you'll survive this."

"But..."

"Coop, I think he needs this." Summer put her arm around her friend.

Seth shuffled in his seat.

"So what are we going to do about Julie because she isn't going to be understanding about this is she? And Ryan is not going to want her to know about any of this."

"I'm way ahead of you there son. Ryan doesn't need this to get out amongst the Newpsies, they would tear him limb from limb. I've got a plan."

Sandy got up and put his arm around Marissa.

"Come on kid…let's go face the dragon."

* * *

Sandy followed Marissa into her house. Julie came flying out of nowhere.

"Where the hell have you been Marissa? Wasting your time with that boy no doubt…"

She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Sandy standing with his eyebrow cocked.

"Actually it's my fault that Marissa is late home, although she was spending time with _Ryan._"

Julie pulled Marissa into the light.

"What the hell happened to your face?"

Sandy ran his hand through his hair.

"Julie I…well I hit her with my surf board. You know how those things are difficult to handle. One minute I was alone and the next 'bam' Marissa was a casualty."

"It's not that bad Mom and it was really my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Sandy looked contrite.

"You raised quite a kid Julie, no tears and she has already forgiven me for giving her a shiner."

Julie narrowed her eyes. Something was off here.

"Don't worry, Kirsten has already ripped into me. I swear I've managed to clobber everyone with that thing at one time or another. The only person I didn't ever manage to get was Caleb and that's the one person I kept aiming for."

Sandy gave Marissa a quick hug.

" Sorry again kid."

He turned and walked away.

"Night Julie. I'll send Ryan your love."

Julie cupped her hand under Marissa's jaw.

"What really happened?"

Marissa pulled her head away.

"God Mom…were you not listening? I walked into Sandy's board."

"It looks like someone hit you."

Marissa turned and faced her mother.

"So you think Sandy hit me? You're pathetic."

"I didn't say that I thought Sandy hit you. Ryan…I know his type."

Marissa laughed bitterly.

"You are just unreal. I walked into a surfboard Mom. Do you think Sandy would stand by and let Ryan hit me? You know Sandy better than that. You really are pathetic."

She flicked her hair and walked away.

Julie watched her daughter march up the stairs. She was right; Sandy would never cover up something like that. One thing was sure. She'd make Sandy pay for making her daughter look like a street fighter.

Marissa flopped down on her bed. She let the tears come. Poor Ryan…the next few weeks were going to be hell for him and not being able to see him was going to be so hard but if that is what he wanted then she would do that for him. She owed him that much.

**TBC**

Wasn't that a nice, long chapter! My fingers are fair worn to the bone.

Still ever so needy. R and R...pretty please.


	18. Chapter 18

Beta'd by melanie39.

Thanks for all the reviews people. I love ya.

**The Accidental Hero**

Chapter 18

Seth pondered a lot over the next hours. It wasn't like he was obsessing, it was that he just couldn't wrap his head around what had happened. And Captain Oats was no good. If he couldn't help with dealing with a recently incarcerated friend then he was definitely being no help on what to do with a friend who had almost been gang banged. Seth lived in fear of shooting his mouth off. When he got nervous he talked and he was worried that he might 'say' something that would make Ryan think that he was taking his situation lightly. He just couldn't help himself; he'd always suffered from foot in mouth syndrome.

When Ryan had eventually woken after fourteen solid hours of sleep, Seth's mom and dad had closeted themselves in the pool house for a parental conference it seemed. When they came out they told Seth that Ryan would be a minute and then he would be in. The minute had stretched into two hours. Seth was going out of his mind and he didn't miss the worried looks his parents were giving one another either.

He'd had their parental pep talk earlier about what the people at Suriak had said about facing your demons and how Ryan would probably be feeling now. His mom had said that you had to face things in stages and you couldn't force things, they just came naturally. They apparently just needed to be here for Ryan. That was easier said than done when the person you wanted to 'be there' for was hiding in a glasshouse.

When the door had finally opened and Ryan stepped into the kitchen all the pre-prepared things he had rehearsed to say had vanished from his mind, it was a total blank from panic. Ryan stood unsure in the centre of the room and looked like he might bolt back to the seclusion of the pool house at any moment. Kirsten asked if he wanted any thing to eat and Ryan made his way to the cereal cupboard to show his food preference and got a box down. Sandy made small talk about work. Seth fidgeted on his stool. Seth didn't want this to be awkward…he needed to show Ryan that he was there for him, that he had his back. And that's when it happened. There was a lull in the conversation and Seth just had to fill it.

You could have heard a pin drop…his stupid fucking mouth.

"Ryan man, I just want you to know that I would have totally covered your ass for you if I'd have been there."

He grimaced…fuck, that's not how it should have come out at all… Had your back or covered your back… not 'covered your ass' …stupid, stupid. Don't ever mention asses or backsides ever again around Ryan.

His parents looked horrified.

Ryan just stared at him for a second, his hand halfway to his mouth holding frosted wheat, and then he shook his head and slowly gave him one of his crooked smiles.

"Yeah…thanks Seth, I think."

Ryan put the square of cereal in his mouth and slowly chewed. Seth bit his lip.

"You do know that that came out totally wrong, don't you."

Ryan put another wheat in his mouth and nodded.

"Cause I have this tendency to put my foot in my mouth and I really don't meant it…but then you know that don't you…of course you do…that's why my shoes probably got peed in so much…"

Seth turned to his parents briefly as he rambled.

"Not that that actually happened…but you know Ryan that I don't want you to feel like we aren't behind you…not that we're behind you…. or anyone is behind you..."

Seth stopped talking and swallowed hard. Shit.

Ryan picked up the packet of cereal and started walking towards the door.

Seth gave a grimace to his parents. He was such a dick but he just didn't know how the hell to go about this. He was just about to slam his head into the counter top when he heard Ryan's voice.

"Seth…Play Station now."

* * *

Seth managed to control his mouth as they both sat in the pool house and raced futuristic cars around an impossible racetrack. He blocked all thoughts of what Ryan had been through from his mind for fear of saying something stupid again.

They played in silence until Ryan dropped his controller.

"Just say what you want to say and then the subject is closed." He sighed.

"What makes you think I want to say anything?" Seth knew he was on dangerous ground here.

"Cause this is the longest you've been quiet since I've know you. This is the exact reason I didn't want to tell anyone. Look at you …you're already treating me differently. I've already got your parents treating me like I'm made of glass…please …I need you to be Seth."

Seth nervously fiddled with his controller.

"I don't know what to say…is that good enough? 'Cause anything I say will seem pitifully inadequate. I mean the worst I've had to deal with is some jocks yanking my chain and pissing in my footwear. I don't know what to say to you dude and I feel like the worst friend ever."

"Look Seth I'll get over this. I'll just add it to the top of the pile of shit and I'll get on with it because I have to but never say that you aren't a friend to me. You've been the best and I don't know where I'd be without you right now. I just need you not to be all weird about this O.K. Just be yourself …can you do that?"

Seth nodded.

Ryan picked up his controller again. They resumed the game.

Ryan crashed his car on the first bend. Seth crowed. Ryan keyed up a new game. Seth grinned at him until Ryan just had to ask.

"What?"

"Dude, you so suck at this game. I would have thought being inside would have sharpened up your Chino driving skills."

Ryan looked stunned for a second before he thumped Seth hard on the arm.

"You really are an ass Seth?"

Seth nodded.

"Don't say ass Ryan. That word is banned around here for the time being."

Ryan started to laugh and Seth joined in. Things were going to be all right after all.

Seth stopped laughing and wiped his eyes. He frowned as he realized that Ryan was still laughing… except it didn't seem so funny now. He watched as Ryan's shoulders shook as he laughed like a hyena. Seth got a bad vibe.

"Ryan?"

Seth started to panic when Ryan didn't look at him. The pitch rose in tone but Ryan didn't seem to be enjoying himself anymore.

"Ryan!"

Sandy opened the door. Seth hadn't been so relieved to see his father in a long time.

"Dad…something's wrong. He won't stop laughing."

Sandy crossed the room and knelt down next to Ryan.

"Ryan…. look at me." Sandy gently put his hands on Ryan's arms.

Seth backed away. He didn't want to witness the only real friend he'd ever had go off his head. He was in way too deep now, and this fucking scared him. He wanted to leave; he also knew that Ryan would be as embarrassed as hell about this…if he ever stopped laughing. Seth had visions of straight jackets and soft padded rooms.

He watched as his dad rubbed Ryan's arms and spoke to him like a child. It was only as Seth watched Ryan's chest heave that he realized what a fine line there was between laughter and tears.

His dad was patient with Ryan; he talked in a slow methodical way. Seth was so clueless about this. He thought back to the melodramatic films of the fifties where the hero would slap the hysterical woman to bring her around but that just wouldn't work here. Seth cursed Ryan's upbringing and cursed himself for not being able to help more.

Seth couldn't take it anymore and slowly left the room. He sat down at the kitchen counter and felt like crying himself. This was so unfair. His parents told him that Ryan had to get over this in stages. Seth didn't like the sound of that…if punching Marissa had been stage one and this was stage two…he dreaded what stage three might be.

His mom came into the room and saw the look on his face. She came over and gave him a hug.

"He'll get over this Seth. He's strong…. he's got one of the strongest personalities I've ever seen. I know it doesn't seem like it now but it's true. You know who he reminds me of."

Seth looked at his mom questioningly.

"Your Grandfather."

"No way!"

"I mean it. Dad always picked himself up and dusted himself down and Ryan is the same. They both have that strength of personality not to let the knocks get them down for long. That's how Dad built up the business from nothing."

Seth snorted.

"Don't let Ryan hear you say that."

Kirsten smiled. She knew more about Ryan than Seth realized after their talk. Ryan had admitted to disliking Caleb with a passion but he'd admitted that he had admired him too.

"Of course Ryan has more tolerance and compassion in his little finger than Dad had in his whole body but they are very similar. I think that's why he didn't like Ryan. I think he saw him as a young lion snapping at his heels."

Seth grinned.

"Does that mean Gramps only saw me as a sloth hanging from a tree branch then?"

His mom shook her head at him.

"It will get better, I promise. And if it doesn't then we'll give Ryan all the help he needs."

Seth hugged his mom because sometimes they just said the things that needed to be said.

* * *

Ryan was aware that something was up when he saw Sandy's worried gaze on him. He realized that he must have reached critical mass and finally had the meltdown that he knew had been brewing but strangely enough he felt better than he'd done in weeks, better than when he'd confessed to Kirsten. It was like all the emotions he'd been holding tightly inside for so long had rushed out and he felt lighter and more clearheaded. He just didn't know where that had come from; he had certainly never acted like that before. That level of emotion just wasn't him, never had been and it confused the hell out of him.

"You O.K?" Sandy finally enquired.

Ryan gave a loud sniff.

"Yeah…yeah I think I am." He gave a small-bemused laugh. "I think I needed that."

"Seth didn't say anything to upset you did he?" Sandy asked.

"No…well yeah but it was cool. I just…it was like for the first time I felt I could let go. It kind of felt good ya know?"

Sandy smiled.

"It all had to come out sometime. We're just surprised it took so long. You sure that you're O.K? Remember, honesty is the policy now."

Ryan nodded his head.

"Yeah…really I feel better, less numb. You can cancel the call to the men in white coats."

Sandy got up off the floor.

"I think I'll keep that call out. They can have a look at Seth."

They both sat in silence for a while...unsure of what to do or say next.

Ryan eventually looked up at Sandy and asked quietly the question that had always been on his mind.

"Can I ask you something?"

Sandy waited.

"What made you give me that card?"

Sandy sat down on the end of Ryan's bed.

"You really want to know the truth?"

Ryan nodded his head.

"I really don't know, I've asked myself that question a thousand times and I really don't know why you jumped out at me from amongst all the kids I've seen. I just know that I've never regretted it."

"Neither have I."

Ryan said the words out loud and he meant them. His life may have turned to crap the last few weeks and he may have not been one hundred percent happy since he'd come to Newport but one thing he did know was that here he had a chance. He could face what life threw at him because for once in his life he actually had people who believed in him. The Cohens didn't offer him the moon on a stick then snatch it away again. He'd screwed up time and time again and they were still here…. he was still here.

He knew that whatever stresses the next few weeks contained he could handle it. The trial would not be easy, having to face Cody, Parker and O'Farrell again scared the shit out of him but he realized that these people would be with him every step of the way. That was a strange feeling.

This family had opened their house to him.

He stared around the pool house, at the crooked stick that he'd once hated propped up against the wall but had gradually grown to like. He looked at the low futon that had also taken some getting used to. He looked at the picture of Mohammed Ali that Seth had brought for him as a not so veiled joke and finally at Sandy who sat on the end of his bed looking at him as if he cared.

His bed… his stick… his room.

Ryan realized that he had just might have just started to reach the stage three that Kirsten had talked about.

Acceptance.

**Fin**

So there it is, the end of the road. Thank you for all sticking with me on the journey and a huge thank you to all you who reviewed.


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